+ Expand
Dimensions: measurements 40 by 44cm. alternate measurements 15 3/4 by 17 1/4 in.
+ Expand
Provenance: Wilhelm Schön, Sosnowiec, Poland & Germany
Private Collection, Frankfurt
Acquired from the above by the father of the present owner in 2002
+ Expand
Literature: Hans Hess, Lyonel Feininger, New York, 1961, no. 206, illustrated p. 267
+ Expand
Notes: To be included in volume II of the Feininger Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings being prepared by Achim Moeller.
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION
During his Bauhaus years, Feininger executed a number of paintings depicting churches from towns and villages around Weimer in central Germany, such as Gelmeroda, Possendorf and Vollersroda. His fascination with the area dates from his earlier visits - he had already explored this region during his travels in 1906. It was during that visit that Feininger executed his first sketches of the church of the nearby village of Gelmeroda, which would be a recurrent motif in his work of the following decades. Throughout his career, architecture was one of the central motifs in Feininger's aeuvre, and here he depicted a row of houses lining a village street, dominated by the church tower. The treatment of the houses and the pronounced linearity of the composition reflect not only Feininger's own training as a graphic artist, but also the important influence of Cubism. Fascinated by the Cubists' technique of breaking up form, Feininger adapted their geometrical style while retaining the use of bright colours characteristic of his own early work.
