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One of the most versatile talents of the modern art movement in Germany, the American-born Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956) is celebrated as a master of caricature, figurative painting, and a distinctive brand of cubism, but he also created a fascinating body of photographic work that is virtually unknown. Drawn primarily from the artist’s own collection (now at Harvard University), this exhibition offers the first opportunity to consider his achievement within the medium. Focusing on the rich and productive period between 1928 and the late 1930s, when Feininger was experimenting with an array of avant-garde photographic techniques and printing his own work, these photographs range from early atmospheric night views made at the Bauhaus (where he took up the camera in 1928) to bird’s-eye views of New York City (where he settled permanently in 1937).

The Sackler Museum is the final venue for this traveling exhibition. Selected drawings and watercolors by the artist from the Art Museums’ collections will also be on view. Curated by Laura Muir, Assistant Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Division of Modern and Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums. Organized by the Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, in cooperation with the Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München; and the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Catalogue (Winner, German Photo Book Award in Gold 2012): The accompanying catalogue includes an essay by exhibition curator Laura Muir, which explores the origins of Feininger’s photographic work at the Bauhaus, its development over the next decade, and its complex and ambivalent relationship to his work in other media. Based on Feininger’s correspondence, interviews with his son T. Lux, who witnessed his father’s work firsthand, and the artist’s collection of negatives in the Busch-Reisinger Museum’s Lyonel Feininger Archive, the catalogue presents a wealth of new information that dramatically expands our view of Feininger as an artist and the history of modernist photography. More

Traveling dates: Lyonel Feininger: Photographs, 1928–1939 was presented in Germany at the Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (February 26–May 15, 2011) and the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München, Pinakothek der Moderne (June 2–July 17, 2011), and at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (October 25, 2011–March 11, 2012). The Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum will be the final venue for this traveling exhibition, showing photographs along with selected drawings and watercolors by the artist (March 30–June 2, 2012).

Credits: The exhibition, tour, and catalogue were funded through the generosity of the German Friends of the Busch-Reisinger Museum, the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Dedalus Foundation, Inc., and the Emily Rauh Pulitzer and Joseph Pulitzer Jr. Fund for Modern and Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums. The exhibition at the Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum is made possible also by the Alexander S., Robert L., and Bruce A. Beal Exhibition Fund; Anthony and Celeste Meier Exhibitions Fund; Charlotte and Irving Rabb Exhibition Fund; and Melvin R. Seiden and Janine Luke Fund for Publications and Exhibitions.

Exhibition programming: Below is a list of the public events connected to the exhibition. The three ArtisTalk events feature contemporary photographers whose work recalls different aspects of Lyonel Feininger’s photography.

—March 29, 2012, 6pm, Opening Lecture and Reception: Lyonel Feininger: Photographs, 1928–1939
Siegfried Gohr, Professor of Art History and Deputy Director of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, will present a lecture on the artist’s drawings and watercolors, Lyonel Feininger: An Artist between the Spontaneous and the Constructive. A reception and open galleries will follow. More

—April 7, 2012, 11am, Gallery Talk: Lyonel Feininger: Drawings and Watercolors, with Harvard PhD candidate Joanna Wendel. More

—April 18, 2012, 3:30pm, Two-Point Perspective Gallery Talk: Feininger in the Darkroom, with curator Laura Muir and conservator Penley Knipe. More

—May 2, 2012, 6pm, In-Sight Evening: Lyonel Feininger: Photographs, including a talk by curator Laura Muir, after-hours viewing of the galleries, live music, conversation, and refreshments. More

—May 19, 2012, 11am, Gallery Talk: Lyonel Feininger: Photographs, 1928–1939 with curator Laura Muir. More

ArtisTalk Series
—February 28, 2012, 6pm, Vera Lutter, in conversation with Lynette Roth, Daimler-Benz Associate Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum. More

—March 20, 2012, 6pm, Laurie Simmons, in conversation with Robin Kelsey, Shirley Carter Burden Professor of Photography, Harvard University. More

—April 10, 2012, 6pm, Todd Hido, in conversation with Sharon Harper, Assistant Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University. More

Online resource: Lyonel Feininger: Photographs provides access to a searchable database of more than 18,000 negatives and slides housed in the Busch-Reisinger Museum’s Lyonel Feininger Archive. The site also includes slideshows, information about Feininger’s photographic subjects, and a chronology. More at harvardartmuseums.org/feiningerphotographs

Related exhibition: Harvard’s Houghton Library houses Lyonel Feininger’s extensive correspondence and is the primary lender to the Art Museums’ exhibition Lyonel Feininger: Photographs, 1928–1939. A photo album compiled by the artist and letters in which he discusses his photography will be on view on the lower level of Houghton Library, Harvard Yard, from March 5 through June 2, 2012. Hours: Monday, Friday, Saturday: 9am–5pm; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 9am–7pm.