Hugo Erfurth with his Dog Ajax
Year: 1926
Description: This is a preparatory drawing for Dix's oil portrait of the photographer Hugo Erfurth. There are very few animals in the Dix catalog but the artist painted Erfurth's faithful German Shepard on several occasions.
Erfurth was 15 years his senior and an established photographer when the pair met. As a result, Dix may have initially shied away from his characteristic tendency to accentuate the subject's worst traits. By 1926, Dix appears to have possessed the confidence to give Erfurth the full treatment. The photographer's rotund face, slumped shoulders and failing eyesight are featured prominently in this drawing.
Provenance: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
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Sabrina Sohn