Rainy Day at the Seaside, 1937

Blatt: 310 x 486 mm

Physical Description: Pen in black and watercolour in blue and ochre over black pencil (?) on laid paper

Inventory Number: 17888

Acquisition: Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Status: Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

In June 1937, Feininger emigrated to New York. The fact that he gave this work an English title suggests that he carried out 'Rainy Day at the Seaside' after arriving in the U.S. The motif, however, was one that had already long preoccupied him, as had the angular pen-drawn lines and fine parallel strokes. Here they provide the watercolour with structure. The motif is based on landscape sketches the artist had made during his numerous stays on the Baltic Sea coast from 1891 onwards. In comparable manner, if an entirely different medium, the artist had already depicted the motif in 1918 in the woodcut 'Rainy Day at the Beach' (Inv. SG 4009L).

About the Acquisition

The Städel Museum has the photographer, psychotherapist, philanthropist, and long-time Frankfurt resident Ulrike Crespo (1950–2019) to thank for more than ninety works ranging from classical modernism to American pop art. The paintings, drawings, and prints by Wassily Kandinsky, Otto Dix, Oskar Schlemmer, Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet, Cy Twombly, and others originally belonged to the holdings of her grandfather, the Darmstadt-based industrialist Karl Ströher (1890–1977), who amassed an extensive art collection after World War II.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title: Rainy Day at the Seaside (Original Title)

Draughtsman

Lyonel Feininger

Period Produced

20th century

Object Type

drawing

Physical Description: Pen in black and watercolour in blue and ochre over black pencil (?) on laid paper

Material

Technique

Geographic Reference

German

Label at the Time of Manufacture: Signiert unten links (mit der Feder in Schwarz): Feininger; betitelt und datiert unten rechts: Rainy Day at the Seaside 1937

Watermark

Nicht vorhanden

Property and Acquisition

Institution

Städel Museum

Administration

Department of Prints and Drawings

Collection

Städelsches Kunstinstitut

Creditline: Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

Picture Copyright: © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023

Acquisition: Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre

Main Motif

Iconclass

Primary

0 Abstract, Non-representational Art
25H133 beach
26B rain
31A231 standing figure

Secondary

26A clouds
31 man in a general biological sense

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History: ...

Galerie Großhennig, Düsseldorf

verkauft an Karl Ströher (1890-1977), Darmstadt, 1957

Nachlass Karl Ströher, 1977

an seine Enkelin Ulrike Crespo (1950-2019), Frankfurt am Main

Vermächtnis an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 2019.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known: