Lyonel Feininger

'Masken (Masks)' — German Expressionism, Bauhaus

1920

Lyonel Feininger, 'Die Architektur' (Architecture), also 'Stadtbild' (Cityscape), woodcut, edition – proofs only in 1920; 50 in 1921. Prasse W 232. Signed in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on off-white Japan paper, with full margins (1 1/4 to 2 1/8 inches), in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 6 x 8 7/8 inches (152 x 229 mm); sheet size 9 1/2 x 11 7/8 inches (241 x 302 mm). No. 11 of the portfolio 'Zwolf Holzschnitte von Lyonel Feininger', 1921. Provenance: Peter Deitsch collection; exhibited Weimar Museum, 1968. Impressions of this work are in the permanent collections of: the Busch-Reisinger Museum (Cambridge, Mass.), Bauhaus-Archiv (Germany), Hamburger Kunsthalie (Germany), Pfaizische Landesgewerbeanstalt (Germany), Kaiser Wilhelm Museum (Germany), Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (Germany), and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. ABOUT THE ARTIST Lyonel Feininger was born in New York City into a musical family—his father was a violinist and composer, his mother was a singer and pianist. He studied violin with his father, and by the age of 12, he was performing in public, but he also drew incessantly, most notably the steamboats and sailing ships on the Hudson and East Rivers, and the landscape around Sharon, Conn., where he spent time on a farm owned by a family friend. At the age of 16 he left New York to study music and art in Germany, from where his parents emigrated. Drawn more to the visual arts, he attended schools in Hamburg, Berlin, and Paris from 1887 to 1892. After completing his studies, Feininger began his artistic career as a cartoonist and illustrator, his originality leading him to great success. In 1906, after working for a dozen years in Germany, he was offered a job as a cartoonist at the Chicago Tribune, the largest circulation newspaper in the Midwest. He worked there for a year, inventing what became the standard design for the comic strip: in the words of John Carlin, “an overall pattern. . . that allowed the page to be read both as a series of elements one after the other, like language and as a group of juxtaposed images, like visual art.” His originality did not end there: he went on to become one of the great abstract painters. Like Kandinsky, music was his model, but Kandinsky only knew music from the outside—as a listener (inspired initially by Wagner, then by Schoenberg)—while Feininger knew it from the inside. He lived in Paris from 1906 to 1908, during which time he met and was influenced by the work of progressive painters Robert Delaunay and Jules Pascin, as well as that of Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh. He began painting full-time, developing his distinctive Iyrical style based on Cubist and Expressionist idioms and a concern for the emotive qualities of light and color. He exhibited with the Der Blaue Reiter group in 1913, and in 1917, he had his first solo exhibition at Galerie Der Sturm in Berlin. One year after his solo exhibition, in 1918, Feininger began making woodcuts. He became enamored with the medium, producing an impressive 117 in his first year of exploring the printmaking medium. In 1919 at the invitation of the architect Walter Gropius, he was appointed the first master at the newly formed Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar. His woodcut of a cathedral...

Lyonel Feininger, 'Little Locomotive (Kleine Lokomotive)', woodcut, 1936, one of a small but unknown number of letterhead proofs; Prasse W158. Annotated 'W 158' (Feininger catalogue number) and '1936' in pencil, in the bottom right sheet corner. A fine impression, on cream, laid letterhead stock; hinge remains on the left and right top sheet edges, verso, in excellent condition. Very scarce. Image size 2 1/4 x 3 5/16 inches; sheet size 10 x 7 inches. Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Exhibited: 'Lyonel Feininer, Woodcuts Used As Letterheads'; Associated American Artists; Feb 4 - March 2, 1974; New York, NY. Collections: Cleveland Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (East Berlin KK). ABOUT THE ARTIST Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956) was born in New York City into a musical family—his father was a violinist and composer, his mother was a singer and pianist. He studied violin with his father, and by the age of 12, he was performing in public, but he also drew incessantly, most notably the steamboats and sailing ships on the Hudson and East Rivers, and the landscape around Sharon, Conn., where he spent time on a farm owned by a family friend. At the age of 16 he left New York to study music and art in Germany, from where his parents emigrated. Drawn more to the visual arts, he attended schools in Hamburg, Berlin, and Paris from 1887 to 1892. After completing his studies, Feininger began his artistic career as a cartoonist and illustrator, his originality leading him to great success. In 1906, after working for a dozen years in Germany, he was offered a job as a cartoonist at the Chicago Tribune, the largest circulation newspaper in the Midwest. He worked there for a year, inventing what became the standard design for the comic strip: in the words of John Carlin, “an overall pattern. . . that allowed the page to be read both as a series of elements one after the other, like language and as a group of juxtaposed images, like visual art.” His originality did not end there: he went on to become one of the great abstract painters. Like Kandinsky, music was his model, but Kandinsky only knew music from the outside—as a listener (inspired initially by Wagner, then by Schoenberg)—while Feininger knew it from the inside. He lived in Paris from 1906 to 1908, during which time he met and was influenced by the work of progressive painters Robert Delaunay and Jules Pascin, as well as that of Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh. He began painting full-time, developing his distinctive Iyrical style based on Cubist and Expressionist idioms and a concern for the emotive qualities of light and color. He exhibited with the Der Blaue Reiter group in 1913, and in 1917, he had his first solo exhibition at Galerie Der Sturm in Berlin. One year after his solo exhibition, in 1918, Feininger began making woodcuts. He became enamored with the medium, producing an impressive 117 in his first year of exploring the printmaking medium. In 1919 at the invitation of the architect Walter Gropius, he was appointed the first master at the newly formed Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar. His woodcut of a cathedral crowned...

Lyonel Feininger, 'Church with House and Tree (Kirche mit Haus und Baum)', woodcut, 1936, one of a small but unknown number of letterhead proofs; Prasse W290 V. Inscribed 'J. F. note paper', in pencil, in the artist’s hand; with the Feininger estate stamp and catalog no. 'W 859' in pencil. Annotated 'W.290 V state 3609' in pencil, in the bottom right sheet corner. A fine impression, on cream, laid letterhead stock; hinge remains on the left and right top sheet edges, verso, in excellent condition. Very scarce. Image size 2 3/8 x 2 3/4 inches; sheet size 10 x 7 5/16 inches. Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Exhibited: 'Lyonel Feininer, Woodcuts Used As Letterheads'; Associated American Artists; Feb 4 - March 2, 1974; NY, NY. ABOUT THE ARTIST Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956) was born in New York City into a musical family—his father was a violinist and composer, his mother was a singer and pianist. He studied violin with his father, and by the age of 12, he was performing in public. Still, he also drew incessantly, most notably the steamboats and sailing ships on the Hudson and East Rivers, and the landscape around Sharon, Conn., where he spent time on a farm owned by a family friend. At the age of 16 he left New York to study music and art in Germany, from where his parents emigrated. Drawn more to the visual arts, he attended schools in Hamburg, Berlin, and Paris from 1887 to 1892. After completing his studies, Feininger began his artistic career as a cartoonist and illustrator, his originality leading him to great success. In 1906, after working for a dozen years in Germany, he was offered a job as a cartoonist at the Chicago Tribune, the largest circulation newspaper in the Midwest. He worked there for a year, inventing what became the standard design for the comic strip: in the words of John Carlin, “an overall pattern. . . that allowed the page to be read both as a series of elements one after the other, like language and as a group of juxtaposed images, like visual art.” His originality did not end there: he went on to become one of the great abstract painters. Like Kandinsky, music was his model, but Kandinsky only knew music from the outside—as a listener (inspired initially by Wagner, then by Schoenberg)—while Feininger knew it from the inside. He lived in Paris from 1906 to 1908, during which time he met and was influenced by the work of progressive painters Robert Delaunay and Jules Pascin, as well as that of Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh. He began painting full-time, developing his distinctive Iyrical style based on Cubist and Expressionist idioms and a concern for the emotive qualities of light and color. He exhibited with the Der Blaue Reiter group in 1913, and in 1917, he had his first solo exhibition at Galerie Der Sturm in Berlin. One year after his solo exhibition, in 1918, Feininger began making woodcuts. He became enamored with the medium, producing an impressive 117 in his first year of exploring the printmaking medium. In 1919 at the invitation of the architect Walter Gropius, he was appointed the first master at the newly formed Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar. His woodcut of a cathedral crowned...

Lyonel Feininger, 'Three Masted Ship, 2 (Dreimastiges Schiff, 2)', woodcut, 1937, one of a small but unknown number of letterhead proofs; Prasse W296. Feininger estate stamp and inventory no. 'W 865' in pencil, bottom left sheet corner. Annotated 'W 296' and 'on block : 3702a' in pencil, bottom right sheet corner. A fine impression, on cream, laid, letterhead stock; hinge remains on the left and right top sheet edges, verso, in excellent condition. Very scarce. Image size 2 1/4 x 2 11/16 inches; sheet size 10 x 6 3/4 inches. Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Exhibited: 'Lyonel Feininer, Woodcuts Used As Letterheads'; Associated American Artists; Feb 4 - March 2, 1974; New York, NY. ABOUT THE ARTIST Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956) was born in New York City into a musical family—his father was a violinist and composer, his mother was a singer and pianist. He studied violin with his father, and by the age of 12, he was performing in public, but he also drew incessantly, most notably the steamboats and sailing ships on the Hudson and East Rivers, and the landscape around Sharon, Conn., where he spent time on a farm owned by a family friend. At the age of 16 he left New York to study music and art in Germany, from where his parents emigrated. Drawn more to the visual arts, he attended schools in Hamburg, Berlin, and Paris from 1887 to 1892. After completing his studies, Feininger began his artistic career as a cartoonist and illustrator, his originality leading him to great success. In 1906, after working for a dozen years in Germany, he was offered a job as a cartoonist at the Chicago Tribune, the largest circulation newspaper in the Midwest. He worked there for a year, inventing what became the standard design for the comic strip: in the words of John Carlin, “an overall pattern. . . that allowed the page to be read both as a series of elements one after the other, like language and as a group of juxtaposed images, like visual art.” His originality did not end there: he went on to become one of the great abstract painters. Like Kandinsky, music was his model, but Kandinsky only knew music from the outside—as a listener (inspired initially by Wagner, then by Schoenberg)—while Feininger knew it from the inside. He lived in Paris from 1906 to 1908, during which time he met and was influenced by the work of progressive painters Robert Delaunay and Jules Pascin, as well as that of Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh. He began painting full-time, developing his distinctive Iyrical style based on Cubist and Expressionist idioms and a concern for the emotive qualities of light and color. He exhibited with the Der Blaue Reiter group in 1913, and in 1917, he had his first solo exhibition at Galerie Der Sturm in Berlin. One year after his solo exhibition, in 1918, Feininger began making woodcuts. He became enamored with the medium, producing an impressive 117 in his first year of exploring the printmaking medium. In 1919 at the invitation of the architect Walter Gropius, he was appointed the first master at the newly formed Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar. His woodcut of a cathedral crowned...

Executed in 1950 during the heyday of Abstract Expressionism and non-representational art, Feininger reduces a landscape to the bare minimums of lines and wash. Moeller Fine Art

Abstract Composition is an etching and collage on paper realized by Hans Richter in 1973. Published by La Nuova Foglio, a publishing house of Macerata. Monogrammed by Frida Richter and numbered in pencil on the lower margin. Edition number 29/99. Good conditions. On the lower left margin of the back, there are a dry-stamp of the publishing house and a black-ink stamp " Estate Hans Richter " ; on the lower right margin the guarantee certificate by La Nuova Foglio. From a portfolio of seven etchings published by The New Sheet under the supervision of Hans Richer, who signed for each " bon à tirer " before his death, which took place in Locarno on 1 February 1976...

This later work by Lyonel Feininger approaches almost full abstraction. It was executed in 1950 at a crucial moment in American art history. Abstract Expressionism and non-representational art were in full gear and taking the world by storm. Yet Feininger who was associated with the German expressionist groups: Die Brücke...

Rue Caulaincourt Etching and engraving, 1931 Initialed in the plate (see photo) Edition: 77 Plate 10 from "Plaches de Salut" Published by Aux Editions Jeanne Bucher, Paris Rue Caulai...