.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Ferdinand Erfmann was a peculiar character within the Amsterdam art scene around the middle of the 20th century. Although he held office on several committees of art societies, due to a deviant, isolated lifestyle and his curious paintings, he was always somewhat of an outsider. He never tried to be the centre of attention, it was simply not his nature. He lived an isolated life, troubled by depressions, in a small apartment surrounded by his paintings and his cats. For years on end he took care of his unhealthy sister during the day, whereupon he painted his works during the night, sometimes landscapes, but mainly scenes filled with big, muscled women, girls from the factory or prostitutes, acrobats and transvestites, all averse to any flattery.
Lambert Tegenbosch wrote in 1973 about the oeuvre of the Amsterdam artist: 'Erfmann the painter is a nocturnal writer of his alternately gloomy and carefree diary. His oeuvre is his diary. It is not an autobiography. It contains no facts for anything like historically accurate reports of events. It is pure fantasy. The paintings Erfmann wrote at night conjure up the day that he would like to have lived. That is why he painted the trapeze artists, the acrobats, the performers who so excelled in physical strength and agility that they could delight masses of people with their beautiful bodies and incredible daring. That is why he painted the seedy gentlemen with their trilbies, monocles and after dinner cigars, honoring the plump ladies of easy virtue with their rewarding visits. That is why he painted the Erfmann Venus - her thighs like fortresses, her arms strong enough to pull up a tree by the roots, ex-swimming champion now competing for erotic gold. The creator who peopled the world with creatures after his own image and likeness. During the day he went shopping for his sister, at night he acted the part of the performer in silken attire - an awe-inspiring wrestler for the world at large and for Venus a perfect lover'. (Lambert Tegenbosch, Ferdinand Erfmann, Amsterdam 1973, p. 30)
Lambert Tegenbosch wrote in 1973 about the oeuvre of the Amsterdam artist: 'Erfmann the painter is a nocturnal writer of his alternately gloomy and carefree diary. His oeuvre is his diary. It is not an autobiography. It contains no facts for anything like historically accurate reports of events. It is pure fantasy. The paintings Erfmann wrote at night conjure up the day that he would like to have lived. That is why he painted the trapeze artists, the acrobats, the performers who so excelled in physical strength and agility that they could delight masses of people with their beautiful bodies and incredible daring. That is why he painted the seedy gentlemen with their trilbies, monocles and after dinner cigars, honoring the plump ladies of easy virtue with their rewarding visits. That is why he painted the Erfmann Venus - her thighs like fortresses, her arms strong enough to pull up a tree by the roots, ex-swimming champion now competing for erotic gold. The creator who peopled the world with creatures after his own image and likeness. During the day he went shopping for his sister, at night he acted the part of the performer in silken attire - an awe-inspiring wrestler for the world at large and for Venus a perfect lover'. (Lambert Tegenbosch, Ferdinand Erfmann, Amsterdam 1973, p. 30)