Friedrich Schröder-Sonnenstern

Lithuania, 1892 – Germany, 1982

Born in Prussia in 1892, Schröder-Sonnenstern lived a difficult childhood and everything else that is said about his adult life is pure speculation. According to some people, he lived under the pseudonym of Dr. Eliot Gnass von Sonnenstern, an ostensibly charlatan doctor who deceived several wealthy patients and who shared his profiles with the most disadvantaged. Schröder-Sonnenstern’s enigmatic and highly erotic drawings were recognized by the French Surrealist group, who included his work in their exhibitions. His fantastical images with voluptuous women and fleshy male partners are marked by a paradoxical lyricism that often seems to be at odds with his frankly lascivious investigation. Filled with demons, skeletons and other outrageous figures, Schröder-Sonnenstern’s work bears the stamp of social parody.