The Harbor (Warship in the Harbor Entrance), 1918

Sheet 6 from the portfolio ‘Twelve Woodcuts by Lyonel Feininger’

Blatt: 242 x 303 mm
Druckstock: 163 x 222 mm

Physical Description: Woodcut in black on Japanese laid paper (Mino copy paper)

Inventory Number: 67994

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

Feininger encountered Cubism and the art of Robert Delaunay in 1911. Both would prove to be important impulses in his striving to reproduce reality ‘inwardly transformed and crystallized’. The visual fragmentation of objects and their surroundings held great appeal for Feininger, as it did for Delaunay. The woodcut 'Harbour' of 1918 resolutely integrates air and light into the composition: narrow-ridged lines join to form a crystalline-like texture. The reductively depicted harbour scene merges with the ray-streaked sky.

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: The Harbor (Warship in the Harbor Entrance)
Sheet 6 from the portfolio ‘Twelve Woodcuts by Lyonel Feininger’

Artist

Lyonel Feininger

Printer

Graphic printers of the Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar

Publisher

Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar

Part Number / Total: 6 / 12 Holzschnitte sowie Holzschnitt-Titel

Edition: Eines von 50 Ex.

Period Produced

20th century

Object Type

art print

Physical Description: Woodcut in black on Japanese laid paper (Mino copy paper)

Material

japanese paper

Technique

woodcut

Geographic Reference

German

Label at the Time of Manufacture: Signiert unterhalb der Darstellung links (mit Bleistift): Lyonel Feininger

Watermark

Nicht vorhanden

Work Catalogues

Prasse W 110
Feininger F. 1899

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

46C223 harbour
25I1 city-view in general; 'veduta'
46C21 ships (in general)
41A13 edifice, e.g.: public building, department store

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History: ...

Karl Ströher (1890-1977), Darmstadt

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: