Sidewheeler II

1913

Lyonel Feininger American, 1871-1956

On View

Modern, Level 2, North Wing

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Published References

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About the Artwork

After an exposure to cubism at Salon des Indépendants during his visit to Paris in 1911, Lyonel Feininger developed a style of interlocking, prismatic planes that he applied to subjects of landscapes, architecture, and vessels on the sea.
Sidewheeler II depicts a boat, identifiable by the two distinct side wheels that propel it through the water. The semicircular shape of the wheels contrasts with abstracted triangular and rectangular forms defining the boat and the choppy water surface. The wheels’ dusty yellow stands out from the subdued palette of layered greens, browns, and whites, occasionally enlivened by splashes of orange. Despite the tempered color scheme, the painting is replete with energy that infuses the boat, water, and sky with equal intensity and merges all these elements, leaving only remnants of perspective.

Title Sidewheeler II

Artwork Date 1913

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: 31 3/4 × 39 5/8 inches (80.6 × 100.6 cm) Framed: 37 3/8 × 45 1/2 × 2 1/2 inches (94.9 × 115.6 × 6.4 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Modern Art to 1970

Credit City of Detroit Purchase

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. 21.208

Markings

Signed Signed and dated, lower right: Feininger 13

Provenance

August 1921, Drs. Fritz Goldschmidt and Victor Wallerstein.
1921-present, purchase by 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

Paintings by Nineteen Living Americans. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1929, no. 19.

Richardson, Edgar Preston. Twentieth Century Painting, Detroit Institute of Arts Guide, no. 2. Detroit, 1935, pp. 36-38.

Richardson, Edgar Preston. The Way of Western Art, 1776-1914. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1939, p. 183.

Feininger-Hartley. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1944, p. 22.

Paintings 1900-1925. Exh. cat., Cincinnati Art Museum. Cincinnati, 1951, no. 22.

The Work of Lyonel Feininger. Exh. cat., Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, 1951, no. 4.

Fifty Paintings, 1905-1913: The Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition. Exh. cat., Albright Art Gallery. Buffalo, 1955, no. 15.

German Art of the 20th Century. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1957, p. 107, no. 38.

Hess, Hans. Lyonel Feininger. London, 1961, p. 258, no. 117.

Rush, Richard. Art as an Investment. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1961, pp. 104-105.

Ten Americans. Exh. cat., Milwaukee Art Center. Milwaukee, 1961, no. 19.

A Retrospective Lyonel Feininger. Exh. cat., Dallas Museum for Contemporary Art. Dallas, 1963, no. 10. [published as Sidewheeler II]

Adventures in American Literature. New York, 1963, p. 573 (pl. 5).

Roots of Abstract Art in America, 1910-1930. Exh. cat., Smithsonian Institute. Washington, D.C., 1965, no. 75.

Lyonel Feininger, 1871-1956. Exh. cat., Haus der Kunst. Munich, 1973, p. 110 (ill.).

Ness, June L., ed. Lyonel Feininger. New York, 1974, p. 180 (fig. 20). [published as Side Wheeler II]

Garhardus, Maly and Dietfried. Expressionismus: Vom Bildnerischen Engagement zur Kunstwende. Freiburg, 1976, p. 90, no. 58 (ill.).

German and Austrian Expressionism: Art in a Turbulent Era. Exh. cat., Museum of Contemporary Art. Chicago, 1978, p. 27.

Uhr, Horst. Masterpieces of German Expressionism at the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1982, p. 66 (ill.).

Nineteen Americans: A Tribute to Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Exh. cat., Forum Gallery. New York, 1990, no. 11.

März, Roland, ed. Lyonel Feininger: Von Gelmeroda Nach Manhattan: Retrospektive de Gemälde. Exh. cat., Neue Nationalgalerie. Munich, 1998, no. 20. [published as Raddampfer II /Sidewheeler II]

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