Ernst Oberhoff learned the painter's trade from 1920 to 1923 while attending evening classes at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Barmen with Gustav Wiethachter. From 1929 to 1931, he continued his studies at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf with Heinrich Campendonk. At the age of 26, he became a lecturer and taught for 18 years at the Wuppertal Labor School.
From 1950 to 1953, Oberhoff settled in Düsseldorf, devoted himself to mural painting, and taught at the art academy. Returning to Wuppertal, he was appointed professor in 1970 and chaired the Bergisches Künstler-Genossenschaft for fourteen years. Several contemporary artists, including Wolf Vostell, Joseph Beuys, and Friedrich Julius Scherff, studied with him.
Oberhoff, nicknamed "Origeté Stone of Wuppertal painting", is known for his figurative-geometric works. His paintings likeColorful LandscapeAndHogel Monastery Monasterywere sold at Christie's auction in Amsterdam. He also created public works, such as the relief at the Protestant Church in Lottinghausen, the abstract window in the tower of the New Reformed Church on Sophienstraße in Elberfeld, and the staircase of the police headquarters in Wuppertal.
