Lyonel Feininger on Usedom

.

Lyonel Feininger on Usedom (Benz and Villa on the Shore)

Between 1 908 and 1 91 2 Lyonel Feininger took regular summer trips to the island of Usedom on the Baltic Sea. Traveling by bicycle, he visited the small villages on the island, especially Benz, with its 1 5th century church of St. Petri. Its characteristic bell tower figured prominently in the nature studies Feininger made on these trips, which he later used in his studio to create five paintings as well as numerous drawings and prints.

Fig. 1 Benz, 1 924 Oil on canvas Private collection (Hess 238)

1.

Benz,

1 909 Crayon on paper 6 1 /2 x 8 3/1 6 in. (1 6.5 x 20.8 cm)

2.

(Benz I),

1 91 3 Pencil on paper 4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 2.6 x 20 cm)

3.

(Benz II),

1 91 3 Pencil on paper 4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 2.6 x 20 cm)

4.

(Benz),

1 91 0 Pencil on paper 6 1 /2 x 8 1 /4 in. (1 6.6 x 20.8 cm)

5.

(Benz),

1 91 0 Pencil on paper 6 1 /2 x 8 1 /4 in. (1 6.6 x 20.8 cm)

6.

(Benz),

1 91 0 Pencil on paper 6 1 /2 x 8 1 /4 in. (1 6.6 x 20.8 cm)

7.

(Benz),

1 91 0 Pencil on paper 6 1 /2 x 8 1 /4 in. (1 6.6 x 20.8 cm)

Fig. 2 Benz, 1 91 4 Oil on canvas Private collection (Hess 1 24)

8.

(Benz),

1 91 2 Pencil on paper 8 x 9 1 /2 in. (20.2 x 24 cm)

9.

Benz,

1 911 Pencil on paper 4 3/4 x 7 1 /2 in. (1 2 x 1 9 cm)

1 0.

(Steeple of the Church of Benz), 1 91 2 Pencil on paper 8 1 /8 x 9 1 /2 in. (20.5 x 24 cm)

11 .

(Steeple of the Church of Benz),

Pencil on paper 8 x 9 1 /2 in. (20.2 x 24 cm)

1 91 2

1 2.

(Church of Benz),

1 91 2 Pencil on paper 6 3/8 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.2 x 20 cm)

1 3.

(Church of Benz),

1 91 2 Pencil on paper 6 3/8 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.2 x 20 cm)

1 4.

(Benz), 1 91 2 Pencil on paper 6 3/8 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.2 x 20 cm)

1 5.

(Benz),

1 91 2 Pencil on paper 4 5/8 x 7 7/8 in. (11 .6 x 20.1 cm)

1 6.

(Church of Benz),

1 91 2 Pencil on paper 6 3/8 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.2 x 20 cm)

Fig. 3 Benz, 1 91 3 Oil on canvas Private collection (Hess 1 07)

1 7.

(Benz),

1 91 2 Crayon and pencil on paper 4 5/8 x 7 7/8 in. (11 .6 x 20.1 cm)

1 8.

(Steeple of the Church of Benz),

Crayon on paper 8 1 /4 x 6 1 /2 in. (20.8 x 1 6.6 cm)

1 91 0

1 9.

(Church of Benz), n.d.

Pencil on paper 8 1 /8 x 6 1 /2 in. (20.7 x 1 6.6 cm)

The Villa Oppenheim, located in the village of Heringsdorf on the Baltic Sea, was among Lyonel Feininger's favorite subjects to draw during his summer visits between 1 908 and 1 91 2. Built in 1 883 for the banker Benoît Oppenheim, the stark, Neoclassical façade, with its prominent porch of Corinthian columns, appealed not only to Feininger's love of nature, but also to his cubistic sensibility.

Feininger explored the motif in several woodcuts and drawings. Today the villa, a prominent example of the “Bäderarchitektur” (seaside architecture), remains a private residence.

20.

(Villa on the Shore),

1 911 Pencil on paper 6 1 /4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.3 x 20.1 cm)

21 .

(Villa on the Shore],

1 91 2 Pencil on paper 6 1 /4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.5 x 20.1 cm)

Fig. 4

(Villa on te Shore, 2),

Woodcut on paper (Prasse W 002)

1 91 6

22.

(Villa on the Shore), 1 91 2 Pencil on paper 6 1 /4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.3 x 20.1 cm)

23.

(Villa on the Shore, 4),

1 920 Woodcut on oatmeal-tan carbon-copy 1 7 1 /4 x 22 in. (43.8 x 55.9 cm)

24.

(Villa on the Shore),

1 91 2

Pencil on paper 6 1 /4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.5 x 20.1 cm)

25.

(Villa on the Shore),

1 91 2 Crayon on paper 6 1 /4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6 x 1 9.9 cm)

26.

(Villa on the Shore), 1 91 2 Pencil on paper 6 1 /4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.5 x 20.1 cm)

Fig. 5

Lyonel Feininger and his son Andreas on the Beach in Heringsdorf,

1 909

1871

1887

1888

1892

1893

1901

1902 1905

1906

1907 1908

Lyonel Feininger is born on July 1 7 in New York, the first of three children of Karl and Elizabeth Feininger.

Leaves for Germany and starts studying at the General Vocational and Crafts School in Hamburg.

Moves to Berlin and begins studying at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Leaves the Academy and moves to Paris.

Moves back to Berlin and starts working as a freelance cartoonist and illustrator.

Marries Clara Fürst, birth of daughter Eleonora.

1909

Birth of son Laurence.

1910

Birth of son T. Lux.

1911

1913

Moves with Julia to Paris and their son Andreas is born. Works on two comic strips for the Chicago Sunday Tribune.

Executes his first oil painting.

Marries Julia in London, returns to Berlin.

Five paintings are shown at the Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon, organized by the Galerie Der Sturm in Berlin.

1917

First solo exhibition at the Galerie Der Sturm.

1919

Is appointed the first master of the Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar.

1921

Composes his first fugue.

1926

Moves with the Bauhaus to Dessau as master without teaching duties.

1929

Works on a series of paintings for the City of Halle (Saale).

Birth of daughter Marianne.

Meets Julia Berg (née Lilienfeld) and separates from his wife.

Six paintings are shown at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris.

1931

Completes his Halle series.

Retrospectives in Dresden, Essen, and at the Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

1934

Moves to Berlin-Siemensstadt.

1935

The National Socialists declare his art “degenerate.”

1936

1937

1939

1942

1944

1945

1956

Teaches a summer course at Mills College in Oakland, California.

Leaves Germany, again teaches a summer course at Mills College and then settles in New York City.

Works on murals for the 1 939–40 New York World’s Fair.

One of his paintings is awarded a purchase prize by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Retrospective with Marsden Hartley at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Teaches a summer course at Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina.

Dies on January 1 3 in his New York apartment.

Benz

1.

Benz,

5.

(Benz),

1 91 0 Pencil on paper 6 1 /2 x 8 1 /4 in. (1 6.6 x 20.8 cm)

1 909 Crayon on paper 6.

6 1 /2 x 8 3/1 6 in. (1 6.5 x 20.8 cm) Dated and signed upper right: Mon Sep 13 09 (Benz), 1 91 0 Pencil on paper Feininger 6 1 /2 x 8 1 /4 in. (1 6.6 x 20.8 cm) Titled upper left: Benz Dated lower left: Wed Jy 13 1910 Inscribed lower right verso: 29. VI. 51.

2.

(Benz I),

1 91 3 Pencil on paper 4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 2.6 x 20 cm) Inscribed upper right: I 3.

(Benz II),

1 91 3 Pencil on paper 4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 2.6 x 20 cm) Inscribed upper right: II 4.

(Benz),

1 91 0 Pencil on paper 6 1 /2 x 8 1 /4 in. (1 6.6 x 20.8 cm)

7.

(Benz),

1 91 0 Pencil on paper 6 1 /2 x 8 1 /2 in. (1 6.6 x 20.8 cm) 8.

(Benz),

1 91 2 Pencil on paper 8 x 9 1 /2 in. (20.2 x 24 cm) Dated upper right: 24 Jy 12 9.

Benz,

1 911 Pencil on paper 4 3/4 x 7 1 /2 in. (1 2 x 1 9 cm) Titled and dated upper left: Benz 11. Aug. 1911

1 0.

(Steeple of the Church of Benz),

Pencil on paper 8 1 /8 x 9 1 /2 in. (20.5 x 24 cm) Dated upper right: 24 Jy 12 11 .

(Steeple of the Church of Benz),

1 91 2

1 91 2

Pencil on paper 8 x 9 1 /2 in. (20.2 x 24 cm) Dated upper right: Tues Aug 13 12 1 2.

(Church of Benz),

1 91 2 Pencil on paper 6 3/8 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.2 x 20 cm) Dated upper right: 14 VIII 12 1 3.

(Church of Benz),

1 91 2 Pencil on paper 6 3/8 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.2 x 20 cm) Dated upper right: 14 VIII 12 1 4.

(Benz),

1 91 2 Pencil on paper 6 3/8 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.2 x 20 cm) Dated upper right: 15 VIII 12

1 5.

Villa on the Shore (Villa am Strande)

(Benz),

1 91 2 Pencil on paper 4 5/8 x 7 7/8 in. (11 .6 x 20.1 cm) Dated lower right: 28 VIII 12

20.

(Villa on the Shore), 1 911 Pencil on paper 6 1 /4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.3 x 20.1 cm) Dated lower left: Fri. Aug. 1 8, 1 911

1 6.

(Church of Benz), 1 91 2 Pencil on paper 6 3/8 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.2 x 20 cm) Dated upper right: 29 VIII 12

21 .

(Villa on the Shore],

Pencil on paper 6 1 /4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.5 x 20.1 cm) Dated lower left: Sun. Aug. 4. 12 Inscribed with color notations

1 7.

(Benz),

1 91 2 Crayon and pencil on paper 4 5/8 x 7 7/8 in. (11 .6 x 20.1 cm) Dated upper left: 29 VIII 1 2 1 8.

(Steeple of the Church of Benz),

Crayon on paper 8 1 /4 x 6 1 /2 in. (20.8 x 1 6.6 cm) 1 9.

(Church of Benz),

1 91 2

22.

(Villa on the Shore),

1 91 0

1 91 2 Pencil on paper 6 Âź x 7 â…ž in. (1 6.3 x 20.1 cm) Signed upper left: Feininger Dated upper right: Fri Jun 14 12 23.

Villa on the Shore, 4,

n.d.

Pencil on paper 8 1 /8 x 6 1 /2 in. (20.7 x 1 6.6 cm)

1 920 Woodcut on oatmeal-tan carbon-copy Sheet: 1 7 1 /4 x 22 in. (43.8 x 55.9 cm) Print: 1 0 3/8 x 1 3 3/8 (26.4 x 34 cm) Signed lower left: Lyonel Feininger Numbered lower center: 2034 Inscribed lower left: X

24.

(Villa on the Shore),

1 91 2

Pencil on paper 6 1 /4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.5 x 20.1 cm) Dated lower right: 1912 25.

(Villa on the Shore),

1 91 2

Crayon on paper 6 1 /4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6 x 1 9.9 cm) Dated lower right: Tues Aug 6 12 26.

(Villa on the Shore),

1 91 2

Pencil on paper 6 1 /4 x 7 7/8 in. (1 6.5 x 20.1 cm) Dated upper right: Tues Jy 23 12

35 East 64th Street New York, NY 1 0065 T. (21 2) 644 21 33 F. (21 2) 644 21 34 E. mail@moellerfineart.com

35 East 64th Street New York, NY 1 0065 T. (21 2) 644 21 33 F. (21 2) 644 21 34 E. achim@moelleradvisory.com

Moeller Fine Art, founded in 1 972, is a leading international gallery specializing in works of art from the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. In 1 984 the gallery moved from London to New York, and today occupies premises adjacent to the Hotel Plaza Athenée on East 64th Street. The gallery organizes several curated exhibitions each year and participates in art fairs worldwide.

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The Lyonel Feininger Project LLC

Achim Moeller is preparing the three-volume catalogue raisonné of paintings by Lyonel Feininger (1 871 –1 956) and oversees the Lyonel Feininger Project, which provides certificates of authenticity, exhibition consultation, and research related to the artist. The Project, housed in New York and with new premises at Friedrichstrasse 1 7, Berlin, organizes scholarly exhibitions and maintains a 20,000 volume reference library.

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Achim Moeller oversees the Mark Tobey Project, which provides certificates of authenticity, exhibition consultation, and research related to Mark Tobey (1 890–1 976).

The Project draws on the extensive archives of Paul Cummings, longtime scholar of the artist’s work, which have been actively maintained by Achim Moeller for many years.