Long before photography was considered art, Erwin Blumenfeld positioned himself as a photographer for ‘art’s sake’: an artist determined to manipulate his medium, the camera.
The German transplant is widely celebrated for the iconic images he created on the New York fashion magazine circuit, but Blumenfeld’s early work betrays a psychological complexity that never waned and that marks his entire oeuvre.
Some of his first collages, drawings and experimental photographs – produced mainly in Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris – have not been shown in London for at least 20 years and are brought together in the major photography exhibition 'Erwin Blumenfeld: From Dada to Vogue,' at Osborne Samuel in London.
‘Like an alchemist, Blumenfeld blends various influences from his political context and personal obsessions in his Dadaist work,’ explains curator Lou Proud of Blumenfeld’s anarchic mixed-media collages, that incorporate religious and fascist symbols alongside self-portraiture and the ever-present female form.
When Blumenfeld began to turn his attention to portrait photography, he continued in this irreverent vein, and started to experiment with unnatural light, slow exposure and solarising techniques on different types of paper with varying levels of silver. ‘He was very much a studio photographer who worked his prints’, adds Proud, pointing out how in the 1930s, Blumenfeld cut out silhouettes to add in a tweed texture for a fashion montage, or sometimes froze his negatives to create a more crystalline image.
With tremendous vision, Blumenfeld eroticised the body by hiding parts of it, and stripped down a beauty shot until only a simple white space dotted with facial features remained. The examples are myriad: his use of mirrors to add angles to a shot; his high-contrast images; his symmetrical and kaleidoscopic compositions – Blumenfeld innovated fashion photography in ways that are still imitated today.
Included in the collection are some of his first collages, drawings and experimental photographs that have never been shown in the UK. Pictured left: Madonna of War (Nun), 1923. Right: Charlie, 1920–21
‘Like an alchemist, Blumenfeld blends various influences from his political context and personal obsessions in his Dadaist work,’ explains curator Lou Proud. Pictured left: Self-portrait with collage, 1921. Right: Fashion Montage, 1950
Pictured left: Untitled, 1949. Right: Cross, 1967
INFORMATION
’Erwin Blumenfeld: From Dada to Vogue’ is on view until 29 October. For more information, visit the Osborne Samuel website
Imagery courtesy Osborne Samuel
ADDRESS
Osborne Samuel Gallery
23A Bruton Street
London, W1J 6QG
-
Highlights from the transporting Cruise 2026 showsThe Cruise 2026 season began yesterday with a Chanel show at Lake Como, heralding the start of a series of jet-setting, destination runway shows from fashion’s biggest houses
-
Behind the design of national pavilions in Venice: three studios to knowDesigning the British, Swiss and Mexican national pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 are three outstanding studios to know before you go
-
Premium patisserie Naya is Mayfair’s latest sweet spotHeritage meets opulence at Naya bakery in Mayfair, London. With interiors by India Hicks and Anna Goulandris, the patisserie looks good enough to eat
-
The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt will be shown at Tate ModernThe 42-panel quilt, which commemorates those affected by HIV and AIDS, will be displayed in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in June 2025
-
Meet the Turner Prize 2025 shortlisted artistsNnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami and Zadie Xa are in the running for the Turner Prize 2025 – here they are with their work
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuitElla Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
-
The art of the textile label: how British mill-made cloth sold itself to Indian buyersAn exhibition of Indo-British textile labels at the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru is a journey through colonial desire and the design of mass persuasion
-
Artist Qualeasha Wood explores the digital glitch to weave stories of the Black female experienceIn ‘Malware’, her new London exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, the American artist’s tapestries, tuftings and videos delve into the world of internet malfunction
-
Ed Atkins confronts death at Tate BritainIn his new London exhibition, the artist prods at the limits of existence through digital and physical works, including a film starring Toby Jones
-
Tom Wesselmann’s 'Up Close' and the anatomy of desireIn a new exhibition currently on show at Almine Rech in London, Tom Wesselmann challenges the limits of figurative painting
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next yearTate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
