2009.100.74: Timmendorf Beach

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2009.100.74

People

Lyonel Feininger, American (New York, NY 1871 - 1956 New York, NY)

Title

Timmendorf Beach

Other Titles

Original Language Title: Timmendorfer Strand

Classification

Drawings

Work Type

drawing

Date

April 25, 1923

Culture

German

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/316290

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Black ink on beige wove paper

Dimensions

27.9 x 34.9 cm (11 x 13 3/4 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• Signed: l.l., black ink: Feininger
• inscription: recto, lower center, black ink: recto, l.c., black ink: TIMMENDORFER STRAND
• inscription: recto, lower right, black ink: recto, l.r., black ink: Mittwoch d. 25 IV 23
• inscription: recto, bottom left, black ink: recto, b.l., black ink: X L.F.
• inscription: recto, bottom left, graphite: recto, b.l., graphite: X
• inscription: recto, bottom left, blue ink: recto, b.l., blue ink: X
• inscription: verso, lower left, graphite: verso, l.l., graphite: TR1167.60
• inscription: verso, lower right, graphite: verso, l.r., graphite: WLE107
• inscription: verso, lower right, graphite: verso, l.r., graphite: 33 1/2 x 23 1/2
• inscription: verso, upper center, graphite: verso, u.c., graphite: 7

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

2009.100.74

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. 12, p. 43

Exhibition History

• Lyonel Feininger: Drawings and Watercolors from the William S. Lieberman Bequest to the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, 02/26/2011 - 05/15/2011; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munchen, 06/02/2011 - 07/17/2011

Subjects and Contexts

• The Bauhaus

Verification Level