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Lot Essay
We are grateful to Achim Moeller for his assistance in preparing this catalogue note.
One of only sixteen known still lifes by Lyonel Feininger, Stilleben mit Apfelsinen (Still-life with Oranges) from 1909 occupies a singular position in the artist's early development. Having only just turned his attention to painting in 1907 after fifteen years as a successful illustrator, Stilleben mit Apfelsinen represents an important transitional moment in Feininger's career, as he attempted to find his own unique approach within a rapidly changing artistic landscape. Trained in Germany but living and working in Paris from 1906-1908, Feininger was acutely aware of the many diverse artistic trends of the late nineteeth and early twentieth centuries. In Stilleben mit Apfelsinen the artist employs the dynamic forms and outlines developed in his caricature and illustrative work, but has also introduced elements from the monumental still lifes of Paul Cézanne and the vibrant decorative works of Henri Matisse and the fauves.
Feininger's first paintings were still lifes, executed in 1907 while he was living in Paris, tucked away in a temporary studio in a small Parisian hotel. In Still life of 1907 (H.3 Achim Moeller WN.27), Feininger displays his interest in the smooth, round forms of a vase and pitcher whose surfaces respond to the play of light and shade. The primarily naturalistic palette and treatment of the subject suggests that this still life was not staged but rather developed as a result of close observation of the elements of the artist's environment. These first works were surely a testing ground in which Feininger could explore the enormous potential inherent in his newly discovered medium of painting.
During his time in Paris, Feininger began to experiment more extensively with style and subject matter in his own work, especially as he worked to interpret the discoveries of his predecessors. In Stilleben mit Apfelsinen, Feininger was most likely heavily influenced by Cézanne and Matisse, a probability that the artist's son T. Lux Feininger has discussed (see 'Lyonel Feininger: Frühe Werke', op. cit., p. 62). The subject matter of this highly focussed still life recalls Cézanne's achievements, although Feininger has moved away from Cézanne's typical constructed, centralized, static forms in favour of a decentralized composition whose formal tension and unsteadiness create a different kind of balance to the composition. The subtle tilt of the tall, narrow pitcher to the left is offset by the horizontal row of oranges along the bottom edge of the canvas, which begins near the mid-point and appears to continue past the right edge. The simple, flattened, outlined forms of Stilleben mit Apfelsinen are also reminiscent of Matisse's exploration of decorative motifs. In strong contrast to Feininger's naturalistic Still life from 1907, the 1909 work captures a carefully-organized arrangement of elements studied as shapes and colours on a canvas. Just as Matisse investigated patterns to explore qualities of line and contour and to place emphasis on colour relationships, so too did Feininger in the present work.
As important to an understanding of Feininger's stylistic experiments in Stilleben mit Apfelsinen is its relationship to his early figural works, particularly considering that this period has been widely classified as the artist's 'figurative period' (H. Hess, op. cit., p. 47). Similar to the figure paintings of this period, the objects in Stilleben mit Apfelsinen are silhouetted against the background, revealing, according to Hans Hess, 'Feininger's preoccupation with the outline as the sum of all possible views of an object' (loc. cit.). Furthermore, the powerful tension in the negative space, apparent in the figural works, is also present in this still life. The staggered, individual forms of the vessels and oranges, which overlap but which will never be fully integrated with each other or within their environment, was a crucial compositional strategy utilised by Feininger in his figural works. More than in any of Feininger's other still lifes, the relationship to the figural works is most pronounced in Stilleben mit Apfelsinen.
The significance of Stilleben mit Apfelsinen for the artist is demonstrated by his decision to feature the work in the Feininger Room in the Kunst der Lebenden Gallery at the Schlossmuseum in Weimar. This contemporary art gallery, established by the new Director of the Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar, Wilhelm Köhler, was opened in the Autumn of 1923, and the Bauhaus, the prominent avant-garde institution in Weimar, played a role in shaping the new department. The Bauhaus masters Feininger and Paul Klee maintained good relationships with Köhler and both agreed to loan some of their most important works to the new exhibition, allowing Köhler to dedicate an entire room to each artist. Stilleben mit Apfelsinen was one of the three early paintings selected for permanent presentation in the Feininger Room. The painting was on view until November 1930, when Köhler was forced to remove all avant-garde art from the museum by order of the state of Thuringia's National Socialist government. The work was then returned to the artist.
Under the Nazi regime, 348 works by Feininger, including prints, drawings, watercolours and paintings, were removed from public collections. In 1937 Feininger left Germany, leaving Stilleben mit Apfelsinen and 52 other works for safekeeping with Hermann Klumpp. For many years the fate of these works was unknown. In her catalogue of her husband's paintings included in the artist's biography by Hans Hess, Julia Feininger marked Stilleben mit Apfelsinen as 'inaccessible' (op. cit., no. 38, p. 251). In 1984, 49 paintings, including Stilleben mit Apfelsinen, were returned to the artist's estate and were subsequently exhibited for the first time in 1985 in a joint exhibition at the Acquavella Galleries in New York and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.
One of only sixteen known still lifes by Lyonel Feininger, Stilleben mit Apfelsinen (Still-life with Oranges) from 1909 occupies a singular position in the artist's early development. Having only just turned his attention to painting in 1907 after fifteen years as a successful illustrator, Stilleben mit Apfelsinen represents an important transitional moment in Feininger's career, as he attempted to find his own unique approach within a rapidly changing artistic landscape. Trained in Germany but living and working in Paris from 1906-1908, Feininger was acutely aware of the many diverse artistic trends of the late nineteeth and early twentieth centuries. In Stilleben mit Apfelsinen the artist employs the dynamic forms and outlines developed in his caricature and illustrative work, but has also introduced elements from the monumental still lifes of Paul Cézanne and the vibrant decorative works of Henri Matisse and the fauves.
Feininger's first paintings were still lifes, executed in 1907 while he was living in Paris, tucked away in a temporary studio in a small Parisian hotel. In Still life of 1907 (H.3 Achim Moeller WN.27), Feininger displays his interest in the smooth, round forms of a vase and pitcher whose surfaces respond to the play of light and shade. The primarily naturalistic palette and treatment of the subject suggests that this still life was not staged but rather developed as a result of close observation of the elements of the artist's environment. These first works were surely a testing ground in which Feininger could explore the enormous potential inherent in his newly discovered medium of painting.
During his time in Paris, Feininger began to experiment more extensively with style and subject matter in his own work, especially as he worked to interpret the discoveries of his predecessors. In Stilleben mit Apfelsinen, Feininger was most likely heavily influenced by Cézanne and Matisse, a probability that the artist's son T. Lux Feininger has discussed (see 'Lyonel Feininger: Frühe Werke', op. cit., p. 62). The subject matter of this highly focussed still life recalls Cézanne's achievements, although Feininger has moved away from Cézanne's typical constructed, centralized, static forms in favour of a decentralized composition whose formal tension and unsteadiness create a different kind of balance to the composition. The subtle tilt of the tall, narrow pitcher to the left is offset by the horizontal row of oranges along the bottom edge of the canvas, which begins near the mid-point and appears to continue past the right edge. The simple, flattened, outlined forms of Stilleben mit Apfelsinen are also reminiscent of Matisse's exploration of decorative motifs. In strong contrast to Feininger's naturalistic Still life from 1907, the 1909 work captures a carefully-organized arrangement of elements studied as shapes and colours on a canvas. Just as Matisse investigated patterns to explore qualities of line and contour and to place emphasis on colour relationships, so too did Feininger in the present work.
As important to an understanding of Feininger's stylistic experiments in Stilleben mit Apfelsinen is its relationship to his early figural works, particularly considering that this period has been widely classified as the artist's 'figurative period' (H. Hess, op. cit., p. 47). Similar to the figure paintings of this period, the objects in Stilleben mit Apfelsinen are silhouetted against the background, revealing, according to Hans Hess, 'Feininger's preoccupation with the outline as the sum of all possible views of an object' (loc. cit.). Furthermore, the powerful tension in the negative space, apparent in the figural works, is also present in this still life. The staggered, individual forms of the vessels and oranges, which overlap but which will never be fully integrated with each other or within their environment, was a crucial compositional strategy utilised by Feininger in his figural works. More than in any of Feininger's other still lifes, the relationship to the figural works is most pronounced in Stilleben mit Apfelsinen.
The significance of Stilleben mit Apfelsinen for the artist is demonstrated by his decision to feature the work in the Feininger Room in the Kunst der Lebenden Gallery at the Schlossmuseum in Weimar. This contemporary art gallery, established by the new Director of the Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar, Wilhelm Köhler, was opened in the Autumn of 1923, and the Bauhaus, the prominent avant-garde institution in Weimar, played a role in shaping the new department. The Bauhaus masters Feininger and Paul Klee maintained good relationships with Köhler and both agreed to loan some of their most important works to the new exhibition, allowing Köhler to dedicate an entire room to each artist. Stilleben mit Apfelsinen was one of the three early paintings selected for permanent presentation in the Feininger Room. The painting was on view until November 1930, when Köhler was forced to remove all avant-garde art from the museum by order of the state of Thuringia's National Socialist government. The work was then returned to the artist.
Under the Nazi regime, 348 works by Feininger, including prints, drawings, watercolours and paintings, were removed from public collections. In 1937 Feininger left Germany, leaving Stilleben mit Apfelsinen and 52 other works for safekeeping with Hermann Klumpp. For many years the fate of these works was unknown. In her catalogue of her husband's paintings included in the artist's biography by Hans Hess, Julia Feininger marked Stilleben mit Apfelsinen as 'inaccessible' (op. cit., no. 38, p. 251). In 1984, 49 paintings, including Stilleben mit Apfelsinen, were returned to the artist's estate and were subsequently exhibited for the first time in 1985 in a joint exhibition at the Acquavella Galleries in New York and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.