Lyonel Feininger - Süssenborn III - image-1

Lot 221 N

Lyonel Feininger - Süssenborn III

Auction 1121 - overview Cologne
30.11.2018, 17:00 - Modern Art
Estimate: 20.000 € - 30.000 €

Lyonel Feininger

Süssenborn III
1924

Watercolour and pen and ink drawing on greyish paper 26.6 x 32.1 cm Framed under glass. Signed 'Feininger' in pen and ink lower left, titled 'Süssenborn III' in the centre and dated '29.I.24'. Inscribed 'XX' in black and blue ballpoint pen in lower left corner. Estate stamp verso lower left. - In fine condition.

In the spring of 1919 Lyonel Feininger and his family moved to Weimar, where he accepted a position as a “Master of Form” at the Staatliches Bauhaus. He was the first among a whole series of well-known artists whom Walter Gropius would offer positions at the Bauhaus over the years that followed, and he became head of the printmaking workshops there. This move to Weimar brought him a new level of recognition.
Beyond his role as a teacher and educator, the artist Feininger found himself drawn, above all, to the edges of town and to nearby villages, where he occupied himself with drawing views of the little communities in the Weimar region: the most prominent homes and churches of Gelmeroda, Possendorf or - as in this case - Süßenborn (now part of the town of Weimar) would become his iconic motifs.

Feininger created multiple drawings and paintings of the Süßenborn village church “Zu den 14 Heiligen”, which is depicted here. The marking “XX” in the lower left corner of the sheet reveals that Feininger evidently regarded the present watercolour very highly and intended to include it in his own collection.

Certificate

Achim Moeller, director of Lyonel Feininger Project LLC, New York - Berlin, has confirmed the authenticity of the work, which is registered in the Lyonel Feininger Project archive under the number 445-05-02-11. The work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of drawings and watercolours, compiled by Achim Moeller and Sebastian Ehlert.

Provenance

Estate Julia Feininger, New York; Private collection, Europe