Le train

Details

Lyonel Feininger (1871-1958)
Le train
signed and dated 'Feininger 30.XII.52' (lower left), inscribed 'A happy new year! to the Railway Friend!' (centre right)
pastel and pen and ink and wash on paper
4 5/8 x 5 7/8 in. (11.9 x 15.2 cm.)
Executed on 30 December 1952

Provenance

George Zabriskie, Ohio, a gift from the artist.
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, New York, 16 November 1989, lot 162 (part). Anonymous sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 11 June 1990, lot 59.
Acquired at the above sale, and thence by descent to the present owners.

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent. VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

Sale room notice

Please note, the lot numbering is incorrect in the printed version of the catalogue, please see christies.com for the correct lot numbers.

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Lot Essay

In 1945 Feininger was invited to teach for the summer session at Black Mountain College, North Carolina. There, besides his former Bauhaus colleagues, Gropius and Albers, he met the young poet George Zabriskie (1918-1989). Feininger and Zabriskie became close friends through a mutual passion for railroads. From 1945 to 1955 they corresponded, exchanging poems and sketches related to their common interest. These two sketches show that Feininger, although in his eighties, still delighted in the whimsical and the fantastic.

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