Add to Collection

Add this item to an existing or new collection.
Harvard Art Museums
Incorrect Username, Email, or Password
This object does not yet have a description.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2009.100.66
People
Lyonel Feininger, American (New York, NY 1871 - 1956 New York, NY)
Title
"Nocturnal"
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1945
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/316229

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink, and charcoal on cream modern laid paper, edges taped
Dimensions
30.7 x 47.3 cm (12 1/16 x 18 5/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: l.l., black ink: Feininger
  • inscription: recto, lower right, black ink: recto, l.r., black ink: 1945
  • inscription: recto, bottom center, black ink: recto, b.c., black ink: "Nocturnal"
  • inscription: recto, bottom left, black ink: recto, b.l., black ink: X L.F.
  • inscription: verso, lower left, graphite: verso, l.l., graphite: TR1112.11
  • inscription: verso, lower right, graphite: verso, l.r., graphite: WLE62
  • inscription: verso, lower right, graphite: verso, l.r., graphite: "Nocturnal"

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Lyonel Feininger (1955-56), bequest; to Julia Feininger (1956-by 1970), gift; to William S. Lieberman (by 1970-2005), bequest; to Busch-Reisinger Museum, 2006.

Footnotes:
According to Peter Nisbet's 11 Sept. 2008 memo to Frank Connors (in object file, along with other documentation), it is highly likely that Julia Feininger, the artist's widow, gave William Lieberman (1924-2005) the 590 drawings that compose the Lieberman Bequest. Neither the lawyers for Feininger's estate nor his two sons have been able to confirm whether, and at what time, Julia might have given Lieberman the drawings. However, their statements corroborate the friendship between Julia and Lieberman, and the likelihood of her giving him such a gift.

Lieberman would have received the drawings between 1956, when Feininger died, and 1970, when Julia died. Beginning in the 1960s, nearly all of the drawings were, at some point, on loan to MoMA. Some of the loans came from Lieberman, while others came from Julia; of the loans given by Julia, many passed into Lieberman's ownership later, at which point he re-loaned some of them to MoMA.

Lieberman's personal papers, which might contain more specific information about how he acquired the drawings, are not currently accessible. They are in the care of his executor, Anne Strauss of the Metropolitan Museum, who has yet to examine them.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Bequest of William S. Lieberman
Copyright
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Accession Year
2009
Object Number
2009.100.66
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

  • Peter Nisbet, Lyonel Feininger Drawings and Watercolors, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums and Hatje Cantz (Cambridge, MA and Ostfildern, Germany, 2011), cat. no. 52, p. 102
  • Joachim Homann, Margaret Morgan Grasselli, and Miriam Stewart, ed., American Watercolors, 1880–1990: Into the Light, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, 2023), repr. as pl. 46 on p. 115

Exhibition History

Subjects and Contexts

  • The Bauhaus

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu