America Yesterday

Photographs by Andreas Feininger

Andreas Feininger, born in 1906 as the oldest son of the famous painter Lyonel Feininger, belongs to a generation of artists who, in the period after the First World War, discovered photography as an artistic medium in itself and developed new photographic perspectives. Andreas Feininger‘s work is characterized by two main topics: city views and motifs of nature. Architecture and the life in his chosen home of New York were to fascinate him for decades. His pictures capture the skyline of Manhattan, the streets, the skyscrapers, the bridges and overhead railways in atmospherically intense pictures. He also dedicated himself to the study of nature. His minutely detailed photographs of insects, flowers, shells, wood and stones lend a sculptural character to the forms found in nature. In June 1998, Andreas Feininger was awarded the culture prize of the German Society of Photography. He died in New York on February 18, 1999 at the age of 92.

The exhibition comprised 105 b/w photographs, predominantly vintage prints. Most of the photographs were taken in the 1940s and 50s. Apart from city views, the exhibition also showed photographs from his time spent “on the road”, when he traveled the country.

Exhibition venues 2001-2003
Kunsthalle Erfurt im Haus zum Roten Ochsen, Germany
Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe, Germany
Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg, Germany
Museumsberg Flensburg, Germany
Städtische Galerie Bergisch-Gladbach, Germany
Kunstverein Friedrichshafen, Zeppelin-Museum, Germany
Altes Rathaus Potsdam, Germany
Museum Bad Arolsen, Germany
Georg-Meistermann-Museum, Wittlich, Germany
Herforder Kunstverein, Germany

Andreas Feininger, Reed Stalk, 1934
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Andreas Feininger, Route 66, Arizona, 1953
© LIFE Magazine © Time Inc.

Andreas Feininger, Midtown Manhattan Seen from New Jersey, 1942 (Detail)
© LIFE Magazine © Time Inc.

Andreas Feininger, Empire State Building, New York, 1940
© LIFE Magazine © Time Inc.

Andreas Feininger, Detail of a Shell, 1977
© LIFE Magazine © Time Inc.

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