LYONEL FEININGER American, German, 1871-1956
New York, Architectural Composition I, 1940
Signed, Dated and Inscribed Oil Painting on Canvas
61.2 x 92 cm. / 24.1 x 36.2 in.
LYONEL FEININGER 1871-1956
New York 1871-1956 New York (American/German)
Title: New York, Architectural Composition I, 1940
Technique: Signed, Dated and Inscribed Oil Painting on Canvas
Paper size: 61.2 x 92 cm. / 24.1 x 36.2 in.
Additional Information: This oil painting is signed by the artist "Feininger" in the lower right corner.
It was executed in 1940.
It is also inscribed ‘Lyonel Feininger 1940 Architectural Composition I New York’ on the stretcher.
Note:
During the artist’s lifetime the Museum of Modern Art, requested this oil on canvas directly. The first occasion was in 1944/45 and again in 1952. The work was also included in Feininger’s retrospective.
The 1956 Venice Biennale American Pavilion, curated by Katherine Kuh, was comprised of 35 artists under the title, “American Artists Paint the City”. This oil on canvas, was one of the three submitted by Feininger to represent the United States. It was the earliest of the three compositions, the others painted in 1949 and 1951 respectively.
Katherine Kuh, described Feininger’s contributions to the 28th Venice Biennale succinctly believing that Feininger ‘condenses and symbolises all the shining lights of America’.
The colouring is evocative of the artist’s works from Northern Germany but incorporating the red brick of Manhattan’s apartment blocks. The composition presents contrasting planes and there is a hint of the city’s iconic water towers.
Provenance:
The estate of the artist, New York.
Julia Feininger, New York.
Marlborough Fine Art, London & New York.
Connaught Brown, London.
Private collection, London, by whom acquired from the above in 2005.
The work is included in the Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings Online with the number 417.
Exhibited:
New York, Buchholz Gallery [Curt Valentin]. ‘Lyonel Feininger, Recent Paintings and Watercolors’, January - February 1943, no. 1.;
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute. ‘Painting in the United States’, October December 1943, no. 191.;
New York, The Museum of Modern Art. ‘Lyonel Feininger, Marsden Hartley’, October 1944 - January 1945. p. 47 (illustrated p. 39; titled 'New York, Architectural Composition');
Poughkeepsie. ‘Lyonel Feininger’, February - March 1945 - this exhibition later travelled to:
Boston, Boston Symphony Orchestra Hall, April 1945;
Amherst, Amherst College, May - June 1945;
San Francisco, The San Francisco Museum of Art, July 1945;
St. Louis, City Art Museum of St. Louis, September - October 1945;
St. Paul, St. Paul Gallery and Art School, October - November 1945;
Fort Worth, Fort Worth Museum Art Association, December - January 1946;
Buffalo, Albright Art Gallery, January - February 1946, Tulsa, Philbrook Art Center, March - April 1946;
Louisville, J. B. Speed Memorial Museum, April - May 1946;
Bozeman, Bozeman State College. ‘New Paintings by Lyonel Feininger, 1949’ (titled 'New York, Architectural Composition') - this exhibition later travelled to:
Seattle, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, February - March 1949;
San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Art, April - May 1949;
Portland, Portland Museum of Art, June 1949.
Washington D.C., Workshop Centre of the Arts. 'The City', September- October 1951 - this exhibition later travelled to:
Poughkeepsie, Vassar College Art Gallery, October - November 1951;
Kansas City, Kansas City Art Institute, November - December 1951;
Northfield, Carleton College, January 1952;
Williamstown, Williams College Museum of Art, February - March 1952;
Manchester, N.H. Currier Gallery of Art, March - April 1952, Oneonta, State Teachers College, April May 1952; Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Museum of Art, July 1952;
Binghampton, Binghampton Museum of Fine Arts; Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids Art Association; South Hadley, Friends of Art, Mt. Holyoke College;
Chattanooga, Hunter Gallery of Art; Omaha, Joslyn Art Museum;
Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts; East Lansing, Kresge Art Center, Michigan State University; State College, Pennsylvania State College; Quincy, Quincy Art Club;
Schenectady, Schenectady Museum Association; Saratoga Springs, Skidmore College;
Carbondale, Southern Illinois University; Wellesley, The Art Museum of Wellesley College;
Nashville, The Parthenon; Newark, University of Delaware; Aurora, Wells College.
Munich, Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste. ‚Lyonel Feininger’, September - October 1954, no. 21 (titled 'New York, architektonische Komposition'); this exhibition later travelled to:
Hanover, Kestner Gesellschaft, October - November 1954.
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum. ‘Lyonel Feininger’, December 1954- January 1955, no. 21 (illustrated; titled 'New York, Architectural Composition').
Venice, American Pavilion, Biennale XXVIII. ‘American Artists Paint the City’, June - October 1956, p. 42 (titled 'New York Architectural Composition').
New York, Willard Gallery. ‘Lyonel Feininger. Architecture’ Paris - New York, March 1961, no. 3 (titled 'New York Architectural Composition').
London, Marlborough Fine Art. ‘Selected European Masters of the 19th and 20th Centuries’, Summer 1973, no. 22, p. 44 (illustrated p. 45).
Cologne, Galerie Gmurzynska. ‘Klassische Moderne’, May - August 1981, no. 41, p. 76 (illustrated).
Literature:
1. Farber, M., (1943) 'Feininger, Tack, and Burlin', in Magazine of Art, vol. 36, no. 3, March, pp. 107-109, 278
2. Hess,H., (1961) ‘Lyonel Feininger, London, 1961, no. 400, p. 286 (illustrated).
3. Moeller, A. (1991) ‘Feininger and Tobey, Years of Friendship 1944-1956’, New York, 1991, p. 27 (titled 'New York Architectural Composition I').
4. Moeller, A. (2006) (ed.), ‘Years of Friendship, 1944-1956, The Correspondence of Lyonel Feininger and Mark Tobey’, Ostfildern, , p. 41 (titled 'New York Architectural Composition I').
Condition: Very good condition. Skilfully repaired holes in the upper left composition and the centre right composition, only visible under UV light.
New York 1871-1956 New York (American/German)
Title: New York, Architectural Composition I, 1940
Technique: Signed, Dated and Inscribed Oil Painting on Canvas
Paper size: 61.2 x 92 cm. / 24.1 x 36.2 in.
Additional Information: This oil painting is signed by the artist "Feininger" in the lower right corner.
It was executed in 1940.
It is also inscribed ‘Lyonel Feininger 1940 Architectural Composition I New York’ on the stretcher.
Note:
During the artist’s lifetime the Museum of Modern Art, requested this oil on canvas directly. The first occasion was in 1944/45 and again in 1952. The work was also included in Feininger’s retrospective.
The 1956 Venice Biennale American Pavilion, curated by Katherine Kuh, was comprised of 35 artists under the title, “American Artists Paint the City”. This oil on canvas, was one of the three submitted by Feininger to represent the United States. It was the earliest of the three compositions, the others painted in 1949 and 1951 respectively.
Katherine Kuh, described Feininger’s contributions to the 28th Venice Biennale succinctly believing that Feininger ‘condenses and symbolises all the shining lights of America’.
The colouring is evocative of the artist’s works from Northern Germany but incorporating the red brick of Manhattan’s apartment blocks. The composition presents contrasting planes and there is a hint of the city’s iconic water towers.
Provenance:
The estate of the artist, New York.
Julia Feininger, New York.
Marlborough Fine Art, London & New York.
Connaught Brown, London.
Private collection, London, by whom acquired from the above in 2005.
The work is included in the Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings Online with the number 417.
Exhibited:
New York, Buchholz Gallery [Curt Valentin]. ‘Lyonel Feininger, Recent Paintings and Watercolors’, January - February 1943, no. 1.;
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute. ‘Painting in the United States’, October December 1943, no. 191.;
New York, The Museum of Modern Art. ‘Lyonel Feininger, Marsden Hartley’, October 1944 - January 1945. p. 47 (illustrated p. 39; titled 'New York, Architectural Composition');
Poughkeepsie. ‘Lyonel Feininger’, February - March 1945 - this exhibition later travelled to:
Boston, Boston Symphony Orchestra Hall, April 1945;
Amherst, Amherst College, May - June 1945;
San Francisco, The San Francisco Museum of Art, July 1945;
St. Louis, City Art Museum of St. Louis, September - October 1945;
St. Paul, St. Paul Gallery and Art School, October - November 1945;
Fort Worth, Fort Worth Museum Art Association, December - January 1946;
Buffalo, Albright Art Gallery, January - February 1946, Tulsa, Philbrook Art Center, March - April 1946;
Louisville, J. B. Speed Memorial Museum, April - May 1946;
Bozeman, Bozeman State College. ‘New Paintings by Lyonel Feininger, 1949’ (titled 'New York, Architectural Composition') - this exhibition later travelled to:
Seattle, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, February - March 1949;
San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Art, April - May 1949;
Portland, Portland Museum of Art, June 1949.
Washington D.C., Workshop Centre of the Arts. 'The City', September- October 1951 - this exhibition later travelled to:
Poughkeepsie, Vassar College Art Gallery, October - November 1951;
Kansas City, Kansas City Art Institute, November - December 1951;
Northfield, Carleton College, January 1952;
Williamstown, Williams College Museum of Art, February - March 1952;
Manchester, N.H. Currier Gallery of Art, March - April 1952, Oneonta, State Teachers College, April May 1952; Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Museum of Art, July 1952;
Binghampton, Binghampton Museum of Fine Arts; Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids Art Association; South Hadley, Friends of Art, Mt. Holyoke College;
Chattanooga, Hunter Gallery of Art; Omaha, Joslyn Art Museum;
Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts; East Lansing, Kresge Art Center, Michigan State University; State College, Pennsylvania State College; Quincy, Quincy Art Club;
Schenectady, Schenectady Museum Association; Saratoga Springs, Skidmore College;
Carbondale, Southern Illinois University; Wellesley, The Art Museum of Wellesley College;
Nashville, The Parthenon; Newark, University of Delaware; Aurora, Wells College.
Munich, Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste. ‚Lyonel Feininger’, September - October 1954, no. 21 (titled 'New York, architektonische Komposition'); this exhibition later travelled to:
Hanover, Kestner Gesellschaft, October - November 1954.
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum. ‘Lyonel Feininger’, December 1954- January 1955, no. 21 (illustrated; titled 'New York, Architectural Composition').
Venice, American Pavilion, Biennale XXVIII. ‘American Artists Paint the City’, June - October 1956, p. 42 (titled 'New York Architectural Composition').
New York, Willard Gallery. ‘Lyonel Feininger. Architecture’ Paris - New York, March 1961, no. 3 (titled 'New York Architectural Composition').
London, Marlborough Fine Art. ‘Selected European Masters of the 19th and 20th Centuries’, Summer 1973, no. 22, p. 44 (illustrated p. 45).
Cologne, Galerie Gmurzynska. ‘Klassische Moderne’, May - August 1981, no. 41, p. 76 (illustrated).
Literature:
1. Farber, M., (1943) 'Feininger, Tack, and Burlin', in Magazine of Art, vol. 36, no. 3, March, pp. 107-109, 278
2. Hess,H., (1961) ‘Lyonel Feininger, London, 1961, no. 400, p. 286 (illustrated).
3. Moeller, A. (1991) ‘Feininger and Tobey, Years of Friendship 1944-1956’, New York, 1991, p. 27 (titled 'New York Architectural Composition I').
4. Moeller, A. (2006) (ed.), ‘Years of Friendship, 1944-1956, The Correspondence of Lyonel Feininger and Mark Tobey’, Ostfildern, , p. 41 (titled 'New York Architectural Composition I').
Condition: Very good condition. Skilfully repaired holes in the upper left composition and the centre right composition, only visible under UV light.
