Born into a Jewish family in Berlin, Erwin Blumenfeld (1897-1969) left Europe in 1941 for the United States, where, five years later, he became a citizen. During the forties and fifties, he was one of the most sought-after fashion photographers in the world. Most people, however, are not familiar with the artist's early work: the often bitingly humorous Dada montages he produced between 1916 and 1933.
This book by Helen Adkins, renowned expert on the Berlin Dada movement, is the first to provide an extensive study and a survey of these early works. Blumenfeld did not intend them to be shown publicly - they were given as personal gifts to his friends and acquaintance or enclosed in love letters to his fiancee. The approximately 100 works - including many previously unpublished works that the author discovered in the artist's family archives and in other public and private collections - are examined within the context of Blumenfeld's life, photographs, drawings and literary works.