Ernst Aufseeser initially strived for a career as a merchant. Around the turn of the century, he decided to pursue art and was educated in the Stieglitz workshops and studied for two years at the Slade School of Art in London. From 1919, he worked as a lecturer and professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Aufseeser was a painter, graphic artist, and designed decorative arts. For the German Reichspost, he designed the 25 pfennig airmail stamp of 1922. As a Jew, he had to leave the Academy after the Nazi takeover.