Erwin Blumenfeld - Childhood enthusiasm for photography; contact with Expressionists
Erwin Blumenfeld was born in Berlin on 26th January 1897, the son of a Jewish businessman. He photographed his first still life as a 10-year-old, having received the camera from his uncle, and in the years that followed, he continued to practise his photography and tried his hand at his first self-portraits. When his father died unexpectedly of syphilis, Erwin Blumenfeld was just 16 years old and thus had to give up all hopes of a comprehensive education as the family was almost penniless. As a result, Blumenfeld was forced to become an apprentice to a manufacturer of women's fashion. However, this laid the foundations for his later career as a fashion photographer, even if the disappointed young man could not have realised it at the time. He often spent time with his closest school friend Paul Citroen in the Café des Westens, which was a favourite meeting place for the Expressionists, and it was here that Blumenfeld met artists such as Mynona (Salomo Friedlaender), Else Lasker-Schüler and, above all, Georg Grosz, to whom he remained close for the rest of his life.
Military service, political engagement and emigration to the USA
In 1916, Erwin Blumenfeld met his future wife Lena Citroen, a cousin of his friend Paul Citroen, and mainly worked on drawings and collages. The First World War forced the artist to serve on the Western Front, first earning him a decoration for valour and then arrest as a deserter. Unlike his brother Heinz, Erwin Blumenfeld survived the war and went to Amsterdam with Lena Citroen, where he tried his hand at various jobs to earn a living. In 1923, he opened a moderately successful leather goods shop and began photographing his customers - mainly portraits, but also some nudes. At the same time, he created biting collages which criticised the political developments of his time, in particular the rise of the National Socialists. His Hitlerfresse, for example, was distributed millions of times over Germany as a flyer by US soldiers. After the insolvency of his business, Blumenfeld focussed entirely on photography and was able to emigrate to the USA through Cecil Beaton, where he was soon working for renowned magazines. He created the famous cover picture Red Cross for Vogue, which was intended to motivate people to work for the Red Cross.
Undisputed darling of the glamour world
Erwin Blumenfeld shared a studio in New York with Martin Munkácsi for two years before he was able to open his own photo studio. In the 1940s and 1950s, Blumenfeld worked for all the major magazines of his time, publishing pictures in Harper's Bazar, Life, Vogue, Cosmopolitan and countless other publications. He led a life of luxury, owned a studio in Central Park and photographed the most beautiful women of his era - either dressed in the latest fashions or naked. His studio was a meeting place for the rich and, above all, the beautiful, and he worked with Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich. His self-penned biography caused a minor scandal, was rejected by all publishers due to its provocative wording, and could only be published posthumously.
Erwin Blumenfeld died in Rome on 4th July 1969.
Erwin Blumenfeld - Works that have already been sold at Kunsthaus Lempertz:
