Otto Dix
Artist
Hugo Erfurth
(German, 1874–1948)
Dateabout 1925
Mediumgelatin silver print
Dimensions16.7 x 11.5 cm (6 9/16 x 4 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineStoddard Acquisition Fund
Terms
Object number1987.2
Label TextErfurth’s photographic portrait studio in Dresden was a gathering place for artists and intellectuals, including Paul Klee, Erich Heckel, and Oskar Kokoschka. The photographer developed a close friendship with painter Otto Dix (1891-1969). Dix was an Expressionist who co-founded the Neue Sachlichket (New Objectivity) movement, a group of artists whose work attacked social ills and those in political power.
Meanwhile, Erfurth shifted to a sharply focused style parallel to “straight photography” in the United States, as seen in the work of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. Within the genre of portraiture, Erfurth placed his subjects in front of a white background in an attempt to present them in neither a flattering nor condemning light.
ProvenanceSander Gallery, New York, New YorkOn View
Not on view
