Erwin Blumenfeld (1897-1969)
Lot 315 PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR, SWITZERLAND


'The female body became the plaything of Blumenfeld's fantasies; he cut it up, elongated it, distorted it, underlining the abstract beauty of an isolated detail. He was obsessed with Woman, transforming her, at times, into an ageless inaccessible goddess, at other times into a sleeping beauty surprised by the voyeur while awaiting the prince charming who will wake her from her long sleep.
The 'platonic erotomaniac' placed Woman beyond Blumenfeld's reach. From the depth of his childhood memories he remembered his first love paroxysms when he discovered women painted by Cranach, 'their insolent beauty all the more naked for their transparent veils...there was born in me the desire to see through the transparency.' (Blumenfeld: My One Hundred Best Photographs, p. 25)

Erwin Blumenfeld (1897-1969)

Nude under Wet Silk, Paris, 1937

Closed18 October 2007

Price Realised

USD 39,400

More Information

How to sell

Erwin Blumenfeld (1897-1969)
Nude under Wet Silk, Paris, 1937
gelatin silver print
copyright credit stamp (on the verso)
11¾ x 9½in. (29.8 x 24.1cm.)

From the artist;
to the present owner

Specialist note

Please note that Erwin Blumenfeld rarely signed his work.