Wilhelm Klaus, 1908
Mary Wigman, 1914
Oskar Kokoschka, 1919
Otto Dix, 1925
Photogram, 1926
Frans Blei, 1928
Max Beckmann, 1928
Otto Dix Instructing a Class in Figure Painting, 1929
Gerhart Hauptmann Holding a Book, 1944
Further Reading
Dewitz, Bodo von.Hugo Erfurth: Menschenbild und Promi-
nentenportrait 1902–1936. Cologne: Wienand, 1989.
Dewitz, Bodo von, and Karin Schuller-Procopovici.Hugo
Erfurth 1874–1948: Photograph zwischen Tradition und
Moderne. Cologne: Wienand, 1992.
‘‘Erfurth, Hugo.’’ International Center of Photography
Encyclopedia of Photography. New York: Crown Pub-
lishers, Inc, 1984.
Erfurth, Hugo.Kamerabildnisse. Dresden: Erfurth, 1907.
‘‘Zur Entwicklung der modernen Bildnis-Photographie.’’ In
Wort und Bild. Dresden: Internationale Photographische
Ausstellung, 1909.
‘‘Bildnisse.’’ Dresden: Erfurth, 1928.
Ka ̈mpf, Tobias. ‘‘Erfurth, Hugo.’’Saur Allgemeines Ku ̈ns-
tler-Lexikonvol. 34, Munich/Leipzig: Saur, 2002.
Loescher, Fritz. ‘‘Zu Hugo Erfurths Bildern.’’Photogra-
phische Mitteilungen40 (1903).
Lohse, Bernd.Hugo Erfurth 1874–1948: Der Fotograf der
Goldenen Zwanziger Jahre. Seebruck am Chiemsee:
Heering, 1977.
Misselbeck, Reinhold. ‘‘Erfurth, Hugo.’’Dictionary of Art
vol. 10. New York: Grove, 1996.
Scho ̈ppe, Wilhelm.Meister der Kamera Erza ̈hlen wie sie
Wurden und wie sie Arbeiten: Hugo Erfurth, Franz Fie-
dler, Franz Grainer [u.a.], Halle-Salle: Knappe, 1935.
Steinert, Otto.Hugo Erfurth: Bildnisse.Gu ̈tersloh: Sigbert
Mohn, 1961.EROTIC PHOTOGRAPHY
Erotic art is the art of sexuality. Webster’s dictionary
defines ‘‘erotic,’’ in part, as: ‘‘Pertaining to or
prompted by sexual feelings or desire.’’ Photo-
grapher Peter Barry wrote in 1983 that eroticism
must express desire and excitement. Some state that
erotic art is sexual but not explicit, while others
attempt to define it by its demeanor or attitude to-
ward sex. These artists and critics typically define
erotic as possessing a sense of humor. Where porno-
graphy is blatant and obvious, eroticism, they claim,
is intelligent and witty. What eroticism is or should
consist of has been a topic of debate for philoso-
phers, historians, and artists for countless ages. Ero-
tic imagery in photography is as old as the medium
itself with known provocative and nude Daguerreo-
types being made at least as early as 1840.
In modern times, erotic imagery in high-art has
gone hand-in-hand with the avant-garde. Photogra-
phy, as a medium, lends itself quite well to the pro-
duction of evocative imagery by virtue of the
medium’s perceived ‘‘truthfulness.’’ According to
philosopher Michel Foucault (1926–1984), sexuality
and truth are linked in their relationships to society
and communication. Erotic art is best when it com-
municates truthfulness in an intimate but universal
manner. For Foucault, this is the communication of
experience and wisdom and is best typified in the
erotic pictorial traditions of Eastern civilization.
The Western reaction to Eroticism has been defined
by shame, constriction, and a need to control its
production and dissemination. In Frenchfin de sie ́cle
society sexuality was linked very closely to what
Foucault termed ‘‘pornography of the morbid,’’
where non-procreative sex was sinful, destructive,
and deadly. These attitudes would influence social-
political reactions to erotic photography in the twen-
tieth century in France, just as lingering Victorian
prudishness in the United Kingdom would deter-
mine social and legal positions on erotic photogra-
phy in England well into the late twentieth century.
The production and exhibition of erotic photogra-
phy in the United States and Great Britain is greatly
constrained by the social moralism of the various
eras in which it was made. In the early 1900s, pur-
itanical values reigned over the social consciousness
of potential art viewers and markets. The production
of erotic art existed, but only to the chagrin of the
governments and moral conservatives of these
nations. Britain was particularly prudish in its laws
governing decency and remained so until after 1918.
It was the nightmare of the First World War and the
terror of a million British dead that effectivelyERFURTH, HUGO