"By profession – with the scientific illustrator in mind – Hellmuth Ehrath was committed to precision, which he had internalized as a freelance artist to such an extent that, even with his exorbitant imagination, he cultivated a crystal-clear visual language. He transformed iron chains into spines; in fact, all sorts of found objects became limbs, skulls; scrap iron or old books became humanly relevant curiosities. His trademark became the skinny figure derived from the human skeleton, which Ehrath grouped upwards along walls, allowed to protrude into the room, or transformed into chairs: fantasy fantasies on drawing paper or cast in metal. He drew his inspiration not only from everyday life but also on numerous travels in Europe, Africa, and Asia. He also drew on art history. As a figure ensemble, he created the three-part "Luncheon en Gras," a chair/table object that took up the tradition of a motif once (Édouard Manet) It was a symbol of liberation from ecclesiastical conventions and was later widely quoted and satirized (by Pablo Picasso). The treated steel figures stand out strikingly from the rusting dining table, which, so to speak, carries perishable 'food' subject to rust.