The Baltic Sea was one of Feininger’s favorite motifs. The artist was mesmerized by the beauty of the sea and dune landscapes; the work and lives of fishermen; and the tempestuous weather of the region.
Feininger lived most of his life in large cities, but he spent time every summer on the Baltic Sea with his family or by himself. In 1892, he visited the island of Rügen for the first time, and he returned there frequently in the subsequent years. In 1905, he and Julia Feininger created drawings while staying at a resort northeast of the city of Rostock on the mouth of the Rega River. In 1908, he stayed at the sophisticated seaside resort in Heringsdorf on the island of Usedom, which became his favorite accommodation. While there, he made sketches of beach-goers, which became studies for ensuing works.
Colorfully dressed bathers, whose abstracted bodies resemble prisms, walk along the coast and swim in the sea. The sand, sea, and sky have been condensed into equally-wide, parallel bands. The horizontal striations of the sky are interrupted by sailboats. In this painting, Feininger explored new pictorial possibilities by juxtaposing different forms and structures against one another.
These specific bathers are based on “nature notes” Feininger made of people he observed while in Heringsdorf in 1911. In that particular sketch, he captured the movement of the various beachgoers, which is mirrored in this painting.
Colorfully dressed bathers, whose abstracted bodies resemble prisms, walk along the coast and swim in the sea. The sand, sea, and sky have been condensed into equally-wide, parallel bands. The horizontal striations of the sky are interrupted by sailboats. In this painting, Feininger explored new pictorial possibilities by juxtaposing different forms and structures against one another.
These specific bathers are based on “nature notes” Feininger made of people he observed while in Heringsdorf in 1911. In that particular sketch, he captured the movement of the various beachgoers, which is mirrored in this painting.
FEININGER discovered a seemingly endless stretch of coastline near THE seaside resort of DEEP.
IT became the inspiration for his seascapes in the following decades.
In 1924, the entire Feininger family traveled for the first time to a seaside resort in Deep (today Mrzeżyno in Poland) on the mouth of the Rega River. While there, the artist discovered a seemingly endless and unspoiled stretch of coastline. These rugged, steep dunes became the inspiration for many of his seascapes in the following decades. In this series, the artist engaged with the topics of emptiness, vastness, and the solitude of people. Similarly to his depictions of churches, he incorporated a spiritual dimension to his seascapes by playing with space and light.
A tiny figure stands on a deserted beach. White, columnar clouds hang over the low horizon. “Dune at Eventide” instantly conjures images of the work of artist Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840). In a letter to his son T. Lux Feininger, the artist cited the influence British landscape painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) had on his “understanding of light and shadow, magical space, and reflections on the water and in the atmosphere.”
A tiny figure stands on a deserted beach. White, columnar clouds hang over the low horizon. “Dune at Eventide” instantly conjures images of the work of artist Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840). In a letter to his son T. Lux Feininger, the artist cited the influence British landscape painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) had on his “understanding of light and shadow, magical space, and reflections on the water and in the atmosphere.”
The thematic similarities between these paintings by Feininger and Friedrich are instantly recognizable. That being said, Feininger stated that he first became aware of Friedrich’s work later in life. In both paintings, an individual is visually confronted with the vastness of nature, but they express opposing interpretations of spirituality. Friedrich portrays nature as an overwhelming counterpoint to civilization, which is intended to elicit a sense of both shock and awe. The threatening sky seems endless. In comparison, Feininger’s dune landscape is vast yet finite. Though the petite figure in Friedrich’s work emphasizes the enormity of the cosmos, the equally small figure in Feininger’s painting is made the focal point through their brightly colored garments and planarity.
Feininger encountered Turner’s works for the first time while visiting London in 1908. Turner was very interested in the different atmospheres of the places he visited. In his landscape paintings, he aimed to recreate the local weather phenomena as well as his impression of the location. Feininger appreciated Turner’s disposition and incorporated this attitude into his own subtle experiences of light and depictions of the elements. This painting shows the HMS Temeraire being towed down the Thames River on her way to being dismantled in front of the backdrop of the setting sun. The decommissioned battleship is painted in golden white tones and looks ghostly in comparison to the steam-powered tugboat, which is a metaphor for the double-edged sword of technical progress.
“In disposition, I am realistic . . . but nonetheless very romantic, purely subjective.”
LYONEL
FEININGER – 1905
Feininger was mesmerized by the way light filtered through trees. He portrayed this motif in various media. In the painting “Avenue of Trees,” a path cuts diagonally through a wooded area. A complex matrix of lines turns the paintings surface into a mosaic of light and dark. A solitary man strolls down the avenue, frozen in an unnatural pose. His body is situated in the negative space between the trees created by the lines extending beyond their trunks. Only in its entirety do the elements of the composition become recognizable forms.
This photograph was taken near Feininger’s home in Dessau thirteen years later. As in “Avenue of Trees,” the field of view is framed by trees. The source of the intensive light is obscured by the tree trunk in the center, which create a high contrast. The light is refracted in the misty air, illuminating the darkness with a radiant aura. The night view makes the artist’s familiar surroundings seem otherworldly and mysterious.