(New York 1871–1956)
Ghosties, 1953, signed, dated Feininger 53, watercolour, pastel, ink on mould-made paper, 15.5 x 11 cm, framed


Provenance:
Galerie Margret Heuser, Düsseldorf – acquired there in 2007 by the present owner
Private Collection, Germany

The “Ghosties”, “Spooks” or “Männekins”, as Lyonel Feininger himself called them, were created by him in the early 1950s and given as cards to his friends. In the manner of their execution, they are reminiscent of Feininger’s early caricatures, yet they are only drawn in angular, pointed outline, and partially coloured with a few clear tints. Through them, a small world of figures is displayed, which in Feininger’s late work otherwise completely disappear. The fantastic figures do not refer to particular individuals, but instead they unite everything that Feininger had observed during the day in his fellow men, and he recorded them in the evenings, like notes in a diary, sitting at his desk.

Provenance:
Private Collection, Germany

The “Ghosties”, “Spooks” or “Männekins”, as Lyonel Feininger himself called them, were created by him in the early 1950s and given as cards to his friends. In the manner of their execution, they are reminiscent of Feininger’s early caricatures, yet they are only drawn in angular, pointed outline, and partially coloured with a few clear tints. Through them, a small world of figures is displayed, which in Feininger’s late work otherwise completely disappear. The fantastic figures do not refer to particular individuals, but instead they unite everything that Feininger had observed during the day in his fellow men, and he recorded them in the evenings, like notes in a diary, sitting at his desk.