Uphoff, Fritz (1890–1966), Two Acts in Motion, ca. 1930

Fritz Uphoff(1890 Witten – 1966 Worpswede), Two Acts in Motion , ca. 1930, charcoal and chalk drawing on paper with a colored overprint, 36.5 cm x 34 cm (sheet size), mounted on thin cardboard, signed “Fritz Uphoff” lower right.

- Wavy at the corners due to mounting

The nudes, rendered with precise contour lines, appear to be studies, yet they form a constellation that connects the two bodies. This creates a dynamic visual tension from which the painting’s erotic aura emerges. The depiction is entirely in the spirit of a new culture of nudity and the Art Nouveau-inspired ode to youth. The all-over color patterns evoke a sense of soft physicality and lend the depiction a sensual vibrato.

About the Artist

After training in stained glass and mosaics, Fritz Uphoff began his studies at the School of Applied Arts in Elberfeld, which he continued in Munich, where he also attended Heinrich Knirr’s painting school. Numerous study trips took him to Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Austria. Around 1913, he settled in the artists’ colony of Worpswede, where he married the painter Lore Schill. Together with her and his brother, the painter Carl Emil Uphoff, he founded the “Werkgemeinschaft Worpswede für Buchkunst” a few years later. During the Nazi era, he was a member of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts, but participated in only a few exhibitions, including one organized by the Relief Organization for German Fine Arts within the Nazi People’s Welfare Association, which attests to his precarious situation.