Oskar Kokoschka, 1920

Details

HUGO ERFURTH (1874-1948)
Oskar Kokoschka, 1920
bromoil print
signed and annotated 'Dresden phot.' in negative; credited, titled and numbered '9' in another hand in pencil, effaced property stamp on verso

This and the previous prints (lots 35-36) are credited and titled in the same unknown hand which differs from all other instances of annotations in unknown hands in this group (lots 27-40).
15½ x 11¾in. (39.5 x 30cm.)

Provenance

As lot 27.

Literature

von Dewitz, Hugo Erfurth: Menschenbild und Prominentenportrait 1902-1936, Wienand Verlag, 1989, pl.45, dated '1922'; von Dewitz & Schuller-Procopovici (eds.), Hugo Erfurth 1874-1948: Photograph Zwischen Tradition und Moderne, Wienand Verlag, 1992, p.288, no.200.

Special Notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This forceful portrait of Austrian Expressionist artist Oscar Kokoschka was included in the 1928 Pressa exhibition in Cologne in 1928 and can be seen in an installation photograph (fig.C). It was also included in the Film und Foto exhibition and is recorded as checklist number 177. While Erfurth's print technique may reflect a fondness for painterly effects associated with pictorialist traditions inherited from the turn-of-the-century secessionists, this portrait has a directness and presence that feels resolutely modern.

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