Artist Index: Erfurth, Hugo

The dancer and choreographer Gertud Leistikow (1885-1948). Circa 1914. Vintage sepia-toned matte gelatin silver print. 16 x 19 cm. Photographer's blindstamp in lower right corner, mounted to light grey paper.

The German dancer and choreographer Gertrud Leistikow was primarily associated with nude and grotesque dances. In 1914 Leistikow's solo performances drew considerable crowds in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Lausanne, Utrecht and Sarajevo. In the summer of 1914 she joined Rudolf von Laban's troupe in Ascona, where in addition to Mary Wigman she had a major role in Laban's dance drama "Triumph of the Victim" by Hans Brandenburg. – A few light spots in upper left, otherwise in very good condition.

Lit.: Bodo von Dewitz/Karin Schuller-Procopovici (eds.). Hugo Erfurth 1874 - 1948. Photograph zwischen Tradition und Moderne. Cologne 1992, compare ill. p. 439 (image from the same sitting).

Portrait of the artist Heinrich Vogeler (1872-1942). 1911. Vintage hand-pulled photogravure on China. 21,8 x 16,5 cm. HUGO ERFURT DRESDEN 1911 blindstamp in lower right corner. Signed, dedicated and dated by Heinrich Vogeler in pencil in upper left, flush-mounted to board.

The Pictorialists and portraitists around the turn of the century often used hand-pulled photogravures because of their fine rendition. Hugo Erfurth often produced pigment prints, giving his work an almost painterly quality. This photogravure follows that aesthetic. – A fine tonal print in very good condition.

Costume study (the photographer's wife Helene Erfurth). 1909. Vintage platinum print on Japan. 23,5 x 16,3 cm. Mounted to brown card (crease in upper left), signed by the photographer in pencil below the image on the mount.

Minimal buckling in edges from mounting, otherwise a rich tonal print in excellent condition.

Lit.: Bodo von Dewitz/Karin Schuller-Procopovici (eds.). Hugo Erfurth 1874 - 1948. Photograph zwischen Tradition und Moderne. Cologne 1992, ill. pp. 162 - 163 (images from the same series), cat. no. 34 (image reversed and as a gum print).