Mansion at the Beach (Villa am Strand)

Mansion at the Beach is one of several woodcuts that Lyonel Feininger based on sketches of Heringsdorf, a German seaside area near the Polish border. In each of these woodcuts, Feininger transforms the original landscape into a dynamic abstract composition. His geometric style reflects the influence of Expressionism and other abstract movements that flourished in early 20th-century Germany.

Feininger was originally from New York but spent most of his artistic career in Berlin. Primarily a painter, he began making woodcuts during World War I, when oil paints were hard to obtain. He later became a teacher and master printmaker at the Bauhaus, one of the most important schools of design of the 20th century.

Sue Canterbury
The Pauline Gill Sullivan Associate Curator of American Art
January 2018