American-born Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956) was an illustrator and cartoonist active in Germany who in 1907 gave up his commercial work and rose to prominence as an artist who exhibited with the expressionists. Much of his formal work was heavily influenced by cubism, to which he was exposed in Paris in 1911. His resulting “prismatic” style was applied most frequently to architectural subjects—in 1919, Walter Gropius chose Feininger as his first appointment to the teaching staff of the Weimar Bauhaus—but also to figures and seascapes. Though best known for his drawings and watercolors, Feininger took up photography at the age of 57, going out at night to experiment with avant-garde photographic techniques. A selection of his rarely seen photographs, along with drawings and watercolors, will be on display from March 30 to June 2 at the Sackler Museum, and an online collection of his photographic works is accessible at www.harvardartmuseums.org/feiningerphotographs.
Lyonel Feininger's photography displayed at Harvard
Displaying a fascinating body of work
Untitled (Night View of Trees and Streetlamp, Burgkühnauer Allee, Dessau), 1928 | Image courtesy of the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources, Harvard Art Museums © 2011 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Bauhaus, March 26, 1929 | Courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University
Untitled (Second Avenue El from Window of 235 East 22nd Street, New York), 1939 | Courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University
Drunk with Beauty, 1932 | Courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University
Untitled (Lux Feininger, Deep an der Rega), 1932 | Courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University
Untitled (Street Scene, Double Exposure, Halle), 1929–30 | Courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University
Untitled (Trees and Shadows, Burgkühnauer Allee, Dessau), April 1, 1929 | Courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University
Halle Market with the Church of St. Mary and the Red Tower, 1929–30 | Courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University
“Negative=Positive,” August 14, 1954 | Image courtesy of the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources, Harvard Art Museums © 2011 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Untitled (Beach Scene), July 17, 1911 | Image courtesy of the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources, Harvard Art Museums © 2011 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Big News!, January 1, 1909 | Image courtesy of the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources, Harvard Art Museums, © 2011 President and Fellows of Harvard College
“Feux Follets,” 1940 | Image courtesy of the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources, Harvard Art Museums, © 2011 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Bicycle Race, 1912 | Image courtesy of the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources, Harvard Art Museums, © 2011 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Untitled (Four Figures), 1935 | Image courtesy of the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources, Harvard Art Museums, © 2011 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Untitled (Ribnitz), November 1937 | Image courtesy of the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources, Harvard Art Museums © 2011 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Untitled (Block Houses, Grey), January 1, 1955 | Image courtesy of the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources, Harvard Art Museums, © 2011 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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