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The Rainbow II is an emphatically horizontal painting dominated by the soft gold and blue arc of the eponymous rainbow. The sky is rosy lavender with touches of green and brown and consumes all but one-sixth of the composition. The sea is a narrow strip of deep turquoise across the bottom. Eleven sailboats, most consisting of white sails only, four with black or black and orange keels, spread themselves across the water. Each one is a sharp vertical triangle and has a faint reflection. Evenly applied brush strokes are visible throughout.
Feininger enjoyed the atmospheric changes he witnessed along the Baltic, in particular sunsets and rainbows. In a letter to his wife, he described an event that relates directly to The Rainbow II: “Yesterday we saw the most spectacular sight when we went down to the beach shortly before sunset. An immense double rainbow, sharp and clear was spanning the sky. … Since the sun had all but touched the horizon, the semi-circle was nearly complete, a well-nigh soaring apparition. The intensity of the colors can hardly be described, the entire universe steeped in an uncanny copper glow. At the sunset hour in the east around the arc, all was a deep purple-violet.” [1]
Feininger’s visual translation of his experience is a serenely poetic image in which the angular character of the sailboats is brought into harmony with the sea, sky, and rainbow. Slicing across the sky and sea are subtle geometric shapes that unify the painting and reveal Feininger’s allegiance to Cubism. Reiterating the peaceful mood are delicate juxtapositions of complementary colors—yellow and purple, blue and orange. What Feininger seems to have cherished about Deep was the opportunity to witness over and over spectacles of nature that he could portray in his paintings. “The more profound the experience of nature, the more vigorous and convincing will be the resulting abstraction and the more expressive, in every respect. After all, this is perhaps the chief criterion of true artistic creation.” [2]
Notes:
[1] Feininger to Julia Feininger, August 18, 1924, quoted in June L. Ness, ed., Lyonel Feininger (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1974), 132.
[2] Feininger, draft of paper for The Art Appreciation Committee of Brooklyn, New York, circa 1939, quoted in Ness, ed., Lyonel Feininger, 59.
ProvenanceJohn Becker, New York [1]
To 1966
Charles H. Babcock, Sr. (1899-1967), Winston-Salem, NC. [2]
From 1966
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Charles H. Babcock, Sr. on February 11, 1966. [3]
Notes:
[1] Joan Durana Provenance Research, c. 1983, object file.
[2] Deed of Gift, object file.
[3] See note 2.
Exhibition History1990-1992
American Originals, Selections from Reynolda House Museum of American Art
The American Federation of Arts
Center for the Fine Arts, Miami FL (9/22/1990-11/18/1990)
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs CA (12/16/1990-2/10/1991)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York NY (3/6/1991-5/11/1991)
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis TN (6/2/1991-7/28/1991)
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth TX (8/17/1991-10/20/1991)
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago IL (11/17/1991-1/12/1992)
The Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK (3/1/1992-4/26/1992)
2008-2009
Feininger Retrospective in Japan
Yokosuka Museum of Art (8/2/2008 - 10/5/2008)
Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art (10/17/2008 - 12/23/2008)
The Miyagi Museum (1/10/2009 - 3/1/2009)
2019
Portraits of the Artists
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (2/1/2019-8/4/2019)
2023
Black Mountain College: Seedbed of American Art
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (3/10/2023-6/25/2023)
Published ReferencesLyonel Feininger Retrospective in Japan catalogue. Tokyo: The Tokyo Shimbun, 2008: 134.
Millhouse, Barbara B. and Robert Workman. American Originals New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1990: 112-3.
Reynolda House Annual Report. Winston-Salem, NC: Wake Forest University, 2003.
Whelan, Richard. The Book of Rainbows: Art, Literature, Science, & Mythology Cobb, CA: First Glance Books, 1997: illus. 140-1.
DepartmentAmerican Art
Rainbow II
Artist
Lyonel Feininger
(1871 - 1956)
Date1928
Mediumoil on canvas
DimensionsFrame: 12 7/8 x 24 1/2 in. (32.7 x 62.2 cm)
Image (visible): 10 7/8 x 22 3/8 in. (27.6 x 56.8 cm)
SignedFeininger
Credit LineGift of Charles H. Babcock, Sr.
Copyright© 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Object number1966.2.13
DescriptionWhere an artist works is often critical to his art. Joseph M.W. Turner in Venice, Winslow Homer in the Adirondacks, and Andrew Wyeth in Maine all derived inspiration from the landscape, light, atmosphere, and, sometimes, the people associated with their favorite locales. Similarly, Lyonel Feininger found solace and stimulation in the small resort town of Deep, on the Baltic Sea. He summered there for twelve years, from 1924 until his departure from Germany in 1936. The Rainbow II is an emphatically horizontal painting dominated by the soft gold and blue arc of the eponymous rainbow. The sky is rosy lavender with touches of green and brown and consumes all but one-sixth of the composition. The sea is a narrow strip of deep turquoise across the bottom. Eleven sailboats, most consisting of white sails only, four with black or black and orange keels, spread themselves across the water. Each one is a sharp vertical triangle and has a faint reflection. Evenly applied brush strokes are visible throughout.
Feininger enjoyed the atmospheric changes he witnessed along the Baltic, in particular sunsets and rainbows. In a letter to his wife, he described an event that relates directly to The Rainbow II: “Yesterday we saw the most spectacular sight when we went down to the beach shortly before sunset. An immense double rainbow, sharp and clear was spanning the sky. … Since the sun had all but touched the horizon, the semi-circle was nearly complete, a well-nigh soaring apparition. The intensity of the colors can hardly be described, the entire universe steeped in an uncanny copper glow. At the sunset hour in the east around the arc, all was a deep purple-violet.” [1]
Feininger’s visual translation of his experience is a serenely poetic image in which the angular character of the sailboats is brought into harmony with the sea, sky, and rainbow. Slicing across the sky and sea are subtle geometric shapes that unify the painting and reveal Feininger’s allegiance to Cubism. Reiterating the peaceful mood are delicate juxtapositions of complementary colors—yellow and purple, blue and orange. What Feininger seems to have cherished about Deep was the opportunity to witness over and over spectacles of nature that he could portray in his paintings. “The more profound the experience of nature, the more vigorous and convincing will be the resulting abstraction and the more expressive, in every respect. After all, this is perhaps the chief criterion of true artistic creation.” [2]
Notes:
[1] Feininger to Julia Feininger, August 18, 1924, quoted in June L. Ness, ed., Lyonel Feininger (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1974), 132.
[2] Feininger, draft of paper for The Art Appreciation Committee of Brooklyn, New York, circa 1939, quoted in Ness, ed., Lyonel Feininger, 59.
ProvenanceJohn Becker, New York [1]
To 1966
Charles H. Babcock, Sr. (1899-1967), Winston-Salem, NC. [2]
From 1966
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Charles H. Babcock, Sr. on February 11, 1966. [3]
Notes:
[1] Joan Durana Provenance Research, c. 1983, object file.
[2] Deed of Gift, object file.
[3] See note 2.
Exhibition History1990-1992
American Originals, Selections from Reynolda House Museum of American Art
The American Federation of Arts
Center for the Fine Arts, Miami FL (9/22/1990-11/18/1990)
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs CA (12/16/1990-2/10/1991)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York NY (3/6/1991-5/11/1991)
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis TN (6/2/1991-7/28/1991)
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth TX (8/17/1991-10/20/1991)
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago IL (11/17/1991-1/12/1992)
The Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK (3/1/1992-4/26/1992)
2008-2009
Feininger Retrospective in Japan
Yokosuka Museum of Art (8/2/2008 - 10/5/2008)
Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art (10/17/2008 - 12/23/2008)
The Miyagi Museum (1/10/2009 - 3/1/2009)
2019
Portraits of the Artists
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (2/1/2019-8/4/2019)
2023
Black Mountain College: Seedbed of American Art
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (3/10/2023-6/25/2023)
Published ReferencesLyonel Feininger Retrospective in Japan catalogue. Tokyo: The Tokyo Shimbun, 2008: 134.
Millhouse, Barbara B. and Robert Workman. American Originals New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1990: 112-3.
Reynolda House Annual Report. Winston-Salem, NC: Wake Forest University, 2003.
Whelan, Richard. The Book of Rainbows: Art, Literature, Science, & Mythology Cobb, CA: First Glance Books, 1997: illus. 140-1.
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