LYONEL FEININGER
American/German (1871-1956)
"Three Sails"
ink and watercolor on paper, signed and dated lower left "Feininger 1952"
13 1/4 x 18 1/4 inches (sight)

Provenance: Pace-Wildenstein, New York, New York; Private Collection, Washington.

Exhibitions: Alan Gallery, New York, New York, "The Denman Collection," February 15 - March 5, 1955, cat. no. 6.

Other Notes: A copy of the letter of authenticity from The Lyonel Feininger Project LLC accompanies the lot.

Lyonel Feininger was born in New York City on July 17, 1871 and moved to Germany with his parents in 1887. He started his artistic training when he was just 16 years old, studying in Hamburg, Berlin, and Paris from 1887-1892. He worked as a freelance cartoonist and illustrator in Berlin and then moved to Paris. He completed his first oil painting in 1907 and had his first solo exhibition just ten years later at Galerie Der Sturm in Berlin.

Feininger was part of the German avant-garde in the early twentieth century and one of the first teachers at the influential Bauhaus school in Weimar, Germany founded by Walter Gropius in 1919. His woodcut of a cathedral with three stars decorates the cover of the famed Bauhaus Manifesto.

Feininger exhibited his work as a member of the "Berliner Secession" group and in 1911, eleven of his works were included in the Paris "Salon des Indépendants." He was friends with Jules Pascin, Robert Delaunay, Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee.

Hitler forced the Bauhaus closed in 1933 and by 1936 Feininger left Germany to teach at Mills College in Oakland, California. He returned briefly to Germany and moved permanently with his family to New York City in 1937. Under the Nazi regime, despite his critical acclaim and success, Feininger's art was deemed "Degenerate," banned and removed from public view.

Of coming to New York, he wrote, "I feel twenty-five years younger knowing that I am going to a country where imagination in art and abstraction are not an utter crime, as they are here..." (quoted in Ulrich Luckhardt, Lyonel Feininger, Munich, 1989, p. 44).

By the 1950s, Feininger's primary interests were the interaction of line, form, and color. Sailboats figure prominently in his works from this period, as seen in the example offered here. The three sails lined up play against the geometry of the water and the sky. While there is a sense of atmosphere and scene, the painting's theme of color and line are evident over the subject matter.

In New York, he was invited to create murals for the 1939 World's Fair. His work was well-received in the United States and earned a purchase prize from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1942 and a retrospective with Marsden Hartley at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Feininger died in 1956 and is today noted as an important Modernist of the early 20th century.


Tags: works on paper, sail boats, post war, watercolor, European, Abstract, 20th century

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CONDITIONS OF SALE
After: A work of art or object made in the style of an artist or maker, but not by the artist. Sometimes refers multiples that may have used an
artist's mold or plate, but were reproduced by someone other than the artist, including posthumous works. Can also be used to describe a
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Manner of: Made in the likeness or style of an artist, with a slight possibility that it was made by the artist or by a follower or student of the
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School: Usually relates to a particular artistic or aesthetic movement. It can also relate to an actual school or to followers of a particular artist
or maker. Also see: "Manner of", "Style", "Attributed to" and "After".
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refer to the style of a particular artist or artistic movement, generally made long after that time period.

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VA and remit the appropriate sales tax. If we do not collect sales
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ALL ITEMS MUST BE PAID FOR WITHIN 14 DAYS OF THE SALE, AT WHICH POINT THEY WILL BE RELEASED FOR SHIPMENT OR DELIVERY.

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A premium of 25% of the successful bid will be applied to the
individual hammer price of all lots sold, to be paid by the buyer
as part of the purchase price. Purchases made through
Invaluable will be subject to an additional 5% charge (30%
total buyer's premium) and purchases made online through
shannons.com will be subject to an additional 2% charge
(27% buyer's premium). Payment may be made by, check,
ACH or wire transfer. Visa, MasterCard and Amex may
be used up to the amount of $5,000 per auction. We currently
collect sales tax in CT, KS, MA, MI, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI and
VA and remit the appropriate sales tax. If we do not collect sales
tax in your state, it is still your responsibility to pay the proper tax
on your purchases.
ALL ITEMS MUST BE PAID FOR WITHIN 14 DAYS OF THE SALE, AT WHICH POINT THEY WILL BE RELEASED FOR SHIPMENT OR DELIVERY.

Taxes on your purchase

We currently collect sales tax in CT, KS, MA, MI, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI and
VA and remit the appropriate sales tax. If we do not collect sales
tax in your state, it is still your responsibility to pay the proper tax
on your purchases.
ALL ITEMS MUST BE PAID FOR WITHIN 14 DAYS OF THE SALE, AT WHICH POINT THEY WILL BE RELEASED FOR SHIPMENT OR DELIVERY.

Condition Statement & Glossary of Terms

Shannon's LLC Fine Art Auctioneers acts solely as an agent for various owners and consignors. It exercises care in describing all items listed and uses judgment in attributing authorship, but offers no guarantee regarding authenticity, condition, or description. The items described in this catalog, which description may be amended by notice or announcement at sale time, are offered for sale by Shannon's LLC as agent for various owners or others authorized to sell the items.

Glossary of Terms:
After:A work of art or object made in the style of an artist or maker, but not by the artist. Sometimes refers multiples that may have used an artist's mold or plate, but were reproduced by someone other than the artist, including posthumous works. Can also be used to describe a direct reproduction after an original work of art.
Attributed (attr.):In our opinion, probably or possibly a work of art by the artist. The work is either unsigned, and/or lacks adequate provenance or authentication by experts in the field.
Bears Signature: The work is signed, but the work and signature may not be by the hand of the artist.
Manner of: Made in the likeness or style of an artist, with a slight possibility that it was made by the artist or by a follower or student of the artist. Also see "After" and "Attributed".
Possibly:Being something that may or may not be true or actual without guarantee.
Probably:Supported by evidence strong enough to establish presumption but not proof. We do not guarantee it to be true.
School:Usually relates to a particular artistic or aesthetic movement. It can also relate to an actual school or to followers of a particular artist or maker. Also see:"Manner of", "Style", "Attributed to" and "After".
Style:After the time period in which the style originated, or a more recent reproduction (ie: Style of Pablo Picasso or Cubist Style), used to refer to the style of a particular artist or artistic movement, generally made long after that time period.