Fisher off the Coast

1941

Lyonel Feininger American, 1871-1956

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About the Artwork

While Lyonel Feininger was not a sailor himself, he was a keen observer of yachts and boats, one of his favorite subjects. In Fisher off the Coast, the vibrant blue, purple, and white shapes along with more muted green and brown passages can be read simultaneously as abstract geometric forms and as a rendition of four (possibly five) sailboats catching the wind across a calm body of water. Feininger did not aim to depict accurate details of the boats nor to draw attention to the presence of fisherman, barely noticeable as diminutive marks positioned on the edge of the boats. But it was his deep familiarity with the marine subject that gave ease to his semi-abstract painting style, where crystalline forms belong at once to the order of geometry and tangible reality.

Title Fisher off the Coast

Artwork Date 1941

Artist Lyonel Feininger

Life Dates 1871-1956

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 19 1/2 × 36 inches (49.5 × 91.4 cm) Framed: 26 15/16 × 44 × 2 3/8 inches (68.4 × 111.8 × 6 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Modern Art to 1970

Credit Gift of John S. Newberry in memory of Dr. Wilhelm R. Valentiner

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 59.11

Markings

Signed Signed, lower right: Feininger 41

Provenance

John S. Newberry, Jr.;
1959-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Feininger-Hartley. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, October 24-January 10, 1945, p. 35 (ill.).

The Work of Lyonel Feininger. Exh. cat., Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, November 2-December 9, 1951, cat. no. 28.

Hess, Hans. Lyonel Feininger. London, 1962, cat. no. 413, p. 288.

The Institute Collects. Exh. cat. (?), DIA. Detroit, December 8, 1964-January 3, 1965, p. 14.

Ness, J. L. Lyonel Feininger. New York, 1974, p. 229 (fig. 47).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Lyonel Feininger, Fisher off the Coast, 1941, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of John S. Newberry in memory of Dr. Wilhelm R. Valentiner, 59.11.