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Compositionally, Lyonel Feininger is divided in two halves: on the left is the artist himself, on the right his easel. Right angles recur throughout, in the position of the sitter’s arms, the plaid of his shirt, the framed artwork behind him, and most of all in the easel. Light enters from the left, bathing the figure’s right side and backlighting the easel. Feininger looks directly at the camera, his head slightly tilted and supported by his right hand. His expression is somewhat quizzical.
Although born in America, Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956) spent his early and mid-career in Germany. He began as a caricaturist and comic strip artist, but evolved into a well-respected expressionist artist known for his translucent seascapes and his luminous portrayals of buildings and streetscapes. Reynolda House Museum of American Art owns two paintings by Feininger, both filled with transparent cubist-derived shapes. From 1919 to 1933, he was affiliated with the Bauhaus, and served as the master in charge of the graphic workshop. When the Nazis labeled his art “degenerate” and confiscated over 400 pieces, Feininger returned to the United States.
Duality characterized both Feininger’s life and his art; was he a German artist or an American one? Was he a cartoonist or a fine artist? Was he an abstract artist or a representational one? In this sensitive portrait, Newman artfully captures this dichotomy, as well as Feininger’s concern for light.
Notes:
[1] Newman cited in Charles Reynolds, unpublished manuscript, Arnold Newman archives, 37–38, quoted in Beaumont Newhall and Robert Sobieszek, The Portraits and Other Photographs of Arnold Newman (Boston: David R. Godine Publisher, 1974), xvii.
ProvenanceFrom 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Arnold Newman Studios, Inc., New York on January 21, 1983. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, object file.
Exhibition History2006
Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/30/2006 - 12/31/2006)
2019
Portraits of the Artists
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (2/1/2019-8/4/2019)
Published References
DepartmentAmerican Art
Lyonel Feininger
Artist
Arnold Newman
(1918 - 2006)
Subject
Lyonel Feininger
(1871 - 1956)
Date1945
Mediumgelatin silver print
DimensionsFrame: 14 1/4 x 17 1/4 in. (36.2 x 43.8 cm)
Image: 7 1/2 x 9 1/4 in. (19.1 x 23.5 cm)
Signed© Arnold Newman
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
CopyrightDue to rights restrictions this image can not be enlarged or viewed at full screen.
Object number1983.2.8
DescriptionIn devising his “environmental portraits,” Arnold Newman responded to his sitters and their surroundings, but his method was inclusive. “The subject of a photographic portrait must be envisioned in terms of sharp lenses, fast emulsions, textures, light and realism. He must be thought of in terms of the twentieth century, of the house he lives in and places he works, in terms of the kind of light the windows in these places let through and by which we see him every day. We must think of him in the way he sits and the way he stands in everyday life, not just when he is before the camera.” [1] The photographs that result appear natural, relaxed, and knowing. Compositionally, Lyonel Feininger is divided in two halves: on the left is the artist himself, on the right his easel. Right angles recur throughout, in the position of the sitter’s arms, the plaid of his shirt, the framed artwork behind him, and most of all in the easel. Light enters from the left, bathing the figure’s right side and backlighting the easel. Feininger looks directly at the camera, his head slightly tilted and supported by his right hand. His expression is somewhat quizzical.
Although born in America, Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956) spent his early and mid-career in Germany. He began as a caricaturist and comic strip artist, but evolved into a well-respected expressionist artist known for his translucent seascapes and his luminous portrayals of buildings and streetscapes. Reynolda House Museum of American Art owns two paintings by Feininger, both filled with transparent cubist-derived shapes. From 1919 to 1933, he was affiliated with the Bauhaus, and served as the master in charge of the graphic workshop. When the Nazis labeled his art “degenerate” and confiscated over 400 pieces, Feininger returned to the United States.
Duality characterized both Feininger’s life and his art; was he a German artist or an American one? Was he a cartoonist or a fine artist? Was he an abstract artist or a representational one? In this sensitive portrait, Newman artfully captures this dichotomy, as well as Feininger’s concern for light.
Notes:
[1] Newman cited in Charles Reynolds, unpublished manuscript, Arnold Newman archives, 37–38, quoted in Beaumont Newhall and Robert Sobieszek, The Portraits and Other Photographs of Arnold Newman (Boston: David R. Godine Publisher, 1974), xvii.
ProvenanceFrom 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Arnold Newman Studios, Inc., New York on January 21, 1983. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, object file.
Exhibition History2006
Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/30/2006 - 12/31/2006)
2019
Portraits of the Artists
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (2/1/2019-8/4/2019)
Published References
Status
Not on view