Lyonel Feininger (American, 1871-1956) Old Powder Tower

Description:

Lyonel Feininger (American, 1871-1956)

Old Powder Tower
Signed "Feininger" l.l., dated "27.9.42" l.r.
Ink and watercolor on paper, 7 1/2 x 11 1/3 in. (19.0 x 29.0 cm),framed.
Condition: Light-struck, taped (3/16 inches wide) along outside of the edges of paper, puncture l.r. corner.

Provenance: A private Missouri collection.

N.B. Lyonel Feininger, born to German émigré parents in Manhattan, New York in 1871, lived most of his adult life in Germany as an ex-pat. He began his career as a caricaturist and illustrator, and his work was extremely sought after in Berlin at the turn of the 20th century. However, Feininger longed to establish himself as an artist and, in effect taught himself how to paint. Starting in 1906, Feininger travelled back and forth between Paris and Berlin where he become involved with the French Fauvist movement and German Expressionist Blaue Reiter group. It is at this moment, just before the start of World War I that Feininger's style matured and he found his own distinct form between the different influential European avant-garde movements.

After the war, Feininger joined the faculty of the new experimental Bauhaus school, run by the architect Walter Gropius. There he taught painting. He started taking regular trips to the Baltic Sea as a respite from teaching. In particular, we know that he took the first of such trips with Gropius and Wassily Kandinsky in August 1922. This watercolor depicts the Powder Tower in Greifswald on the Baltic Sea, and probably is dated 1925. There are several other watercolors, as well as sketches, dated 1925 of this motif. Most importantly, the Powder Tower is rendered in the paintings Der Pulverturm I (The Powder Tower I),1927 (Hess 285) and Der Pulverturm II (The Powder Tower II),1934 (Hess 361).

Feininger found a sense of tranquility in the small fishing villages along the Baltic coast. The sweeping vistas of the landscape's storm-blown dunes appealed to the artist's sense of spirituality. He would return here every summer until his eventual departure for America in 1936, where another chapter of his life would begin.

Achim Moeller, Managing Principal of The Lyonel Feininger Project LLC, New York - Berlin has confirmed the authenticity of this work, which is registered under no. 1370-02-22-16.
Estimate $20,000-40,000


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