BlumenfeldwasdraftedintotheGermanarmy
originally as an ambulance driver and soon after
became the bookkeeper for a field brothel. Blumen-
feld planned to desert the army while on leave in
1918, only to be reported by his mother and impri-
soned. After the war’s end, he left Berlin for Amster-
dam where he was reunited with Paul and Lena
Citroen and declared himself the president of Dada
in Holland.
Once in Amsterdam, he sought to establish him-
self as a Dada artist and created some of his most
important collages. He married Lena in 1921, and
two years later, he opened The Fox Leather Com-
pany, described in his autobiography as: ‘‘eaten up
by expenses from the day of its birth.’’ At the shop’s
second location, he discovered a hidden darkroom,
where he would master solarization, and asked cus-
tomers to pose for portraits, sometimes nude, which
he displayed in the front window. In 1932, Blumen-
feld had his first exhibition as a photographer at the
Kunstzaal van Lier. Two years later, Blumenfeld
published photographs in the noted French publica-
tion,Photographie.In 1935, French painter Georges
Rouault’s daughter Genevieve, a dentist, visited Blumenfeld’s shop and agreed to exhibit his work in the waiting room of her office in Paris. With the hope of becoming a professional photo- grapher, Blumenfeld moved to Paris in 1936. Upon arrival, Genevieve Rouault collected a small group
of clients eagerly awaiting sittings, including her
father and famed painter Henri Matisse. The por-
trait business did not prove lucrative, and he set his
sights on fashion photography. In the meantime, he
accepted advertising commissions and rented a stu-
dio in Montparnasse where he continued his own
work. In 1937, Blumenfeld published a series of
photographs in the first two issues of the prestigious
art quarterly,Verve.Among these images were sev-
eral of his accomplished nudes such asNude Under
Wet Silk.Later,Verve’seditors sold 50 of Blumen-
feld’s images to an American publication,Coronet,
and the annualPhotographiecontinued to promi-
nently feature his photographs.
Although he was well represented in magazines
and galleries, work as a fashion photographer
remained unattainable until 1938, when he met Brit-
ish photographer Cecil Beaton, who helped him
secure a contract at Conde ́Nast. His first portfolio
appeared in the October 1938 issue of French
Vogue,and the May issue included another 20-
page spread, which featured Blumenfeld’s legendary
photograph of model Lisa Fonssagrives on the edge
of the Eiffel Tower. In 1939,Voguedid not renew his
contract, and as a result, he decided to seek oppor-
tunities in New York.
Shortly after arriving in New York, Alexander
King promised him work atLife, and a meeting
with editor Carmel Snow at Harper’s Bazaar
resulted in an immediate, well-paid assignment in
Paris. After returning to Paris, he was ordered to
report to a French concentration camp in 1940.
When it was determined that Blumenfeld had been
interned by mistake, he and his family fled to Amer-
ica, only to be detoured and detained again by Ger-
man forces in Morocco. Rescued by the Hebrew Aid
Society, they arrived in New York, and Blumen-
feld’s arrival was greeted with a rewarding contract
fromHarper’s Bazaar.
AtHarper’s Bazaar, Blumenfeld worked with
renowned art director Alexey Brodovich and forged
a close relationship with photographer Martin
Munkacsi. AlthoughHarper’s Bazaarwas an effec-
tive showcase for Blumenfeld’s work and secured
him major advertising contracts with clients such
as Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden, he
responded to financial incentives at Conde ́ Nast
and returned toVoguein 1944. Art director Alex-
ander Liberman conceded a considerable amount of
creative freedom to Blumenfeld and encouraged
him to experiment with veiled images, where models
were photographed behind ground glass and cello-
phane or reflected in mirrors, as well as color photo-
graphy, integrating motifs derived from painting
into his work. Liberman appreciated his Dadaist
and Surrealist sensibilities and recognized that his
carefully composed, surprising images would make
impressive covers. He included Blumenfeld’s photo-
graphs in his book,The Art and Technique of Color
Photography, published in 1951.
Blumenfeld’s contract withVogueended in 1955;
however, he still received advertising commissions
from loyal clients and signed with L’Oreal in 1963.
Although he was included in two group exhibitions
at the Museum of Modern Art, NewYork, in 1947
and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in
1948, Blumenfeld seldom exhibited in the United
States. He dedicated the latter years of his life to
composing his autobiography and collecting his
best 100 photographs into a book. Of those images,
only four are from his work as a fashion photogra-
pher. Both works were published posthumously.
Erwin Blumenfeld died on a trip to Rome, Italy
in 1969.ANNEBlecksmith
Seealso:Beaton, Cecil; Conde ́Nast; Dada; Fashion
Photography; Heartfield, John; Liberman, Alexan-
der; Manipulation; Montage; Multiple Exposures
and Printing; Munkacsi, Martin; Propaganda;
SolarizationBLUMENFELD, ERWIN