This crystalline painting features one of Feininger’s favorite subjects—the Gothic church of Gelmeroda, located near Weimar, Germany. In his many images of the fourteenth-century structure, Feininger explored the building as a physical connector between the past and the present. Here, he adopts the angled fragmentation of form and space found in Cubism and Italian Futurism to give a sense of spiritual energy and transcendence. In 1937, one year after this work was completed, Nazi officials included Feininger’s art in the notorious Degenerate Art exhibition, prompting him to return permanently to the United States.
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Inscription: Signed (lower right): Feininger; signed, dated, and inscribed (verso, on stretcher): Lyonel Feininger 1936 (Gelmeroda) Kirche
the artist, New York (1936–42; sold to MMA)
Oakland, Calif. Mills College Art Gallery. "Exhibition Lyonel Feininger," June–July 1936, no. 6.
San Francisco Museum of Art. "Exhibition Lyonel Feininger," August 23–September 13, 1936, no. 6.
Seattle. Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington. "Exhibition Lyonel Feininger," opened October 5, 1936, no catalogue [probably this picture].
New York. Nierendorf Gallery. "Exhibition Lyonel Feininger," April–May 15, 1937, no catalogue [probably this picture].
New York. Nierendorf Gallery. "Three Masters of the Bauhaus: Kandinsky, Klee, Feininger," December 18, 1937–March 1, 1938, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art," December 7, 1942–February 22, 1943, unnumbered cat. (p. 4; as "The Church"; awarded a Third Prize).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory: Prize Winners," March 8–May 10, 1943, no catalogue.
Boston. Institute of Modern Art. "Artists for Victory: Prize Winners," May 22–June 19, 1943, no catalogue.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Lyonel Feininger," October 24, 1944–January 14, 1945, unnumbered cat. (p. 33; as "Gelmeroda XIII").
Brooklyn. James Madison High School. "New York School-Museum Program," May 1–June 21, 1945, no catalogue.
Venice. Biennale. "XXIV Biennale di Venezia," May 29–September 30, 1948, U.S. Pavilion no. 23 (as "La Chiesa").
New York. Columbia University Journalism Department. January 24–July 31, 1949, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "20th Century Painters: A Special Exhibition of Oils, Water Colors and Drawings Selected from the Collections of American Art in the Metropolitan Museum," June 16–October 29, 1950, unnum. brochure (p. 6; as "The Church").
Los Angeles. Pan Pacific Auditorium. "6th Annual National Construction Industries Exposition and Home Show," June 14–24, 1951 [loan extended to the Tower Gallery, Los Angeles City Hall until August 10, 1951], no catalogue.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "The Work of Lyonel Feininger," November 2–December 9, 1951, no. 22 (as "Gelmeroda XIII").
Seattle Art Museum. "Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture," February 4–April 5, 1953, unnum. brochure (as "The Church").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Painting, 1754–1954," December 18, 1953–September 1954, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Columbia Bicentennial Exhibition," October 28, 1954–April 18, 1955, no catalogue.
Deerfield, Mass. Deerfield Academy. "Paintings and Drawings by Lyonel Feininger," September 22–October 16, 1955, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Feininger, Kuhn, Kuniyoshi, Marin and Nordfeldt," February 24–April 29, 1956, no catalogue.
San Francisco Museum of Art. "Lyonel Feininger: Memorial Exhibition," November 6–December 13, 1959.
Minneapolis Institute of Art. "Lyonel Feininger: Memorial Exhibition," January 5–February 7, 1960.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Lyonel Feininger: Memorial Exhibition," February 18–March 20, 1960.
Buffalo, N.Y. Albright Art Gallery. "Lyonel Feininger: Memorial Exhibition," April 8–May 8, 1960.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Lyonel Feininger: Memorial Exhibition," May 19–June 26, 1960.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Three Centuries of American Painting," April 9–October 17, 1965, unnum. checklist (as "Church at Gelmeroda").
New York. Marlborough-Gerson Gallery. "Lyonel Feininger," April–May 1969.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Paintings, Drawings and Watercolors from the Museum's Collections," October 1–December 7, 1969, no catalogue.
Albany. New York State Senate. "Twelve Americans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 5–June 20, 1980, unnumbered cat. (p. 11).
Canberra. Australian National Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," March 1–April 27, 1986, unnumbered cat. (p. 58; as "Gelmeroda, no. 13").
Brisbane. Queensland Art Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," May 7–July 1, 1986, unnumbered cat.
Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg Halle. "Lyonel Feininger. Gelmeroda: Ein Maler und sein Motiv," April 2–May 21, 1995, no. 13.
Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal. "Lyonel Feininger. Gelmeroda: Ein Maler und sein Motiv," June 4–July 16, 1995, no. 13.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory," October 1, 1996–January 12, 1997, extended to January 22, 1997, no catalogue.
Neue Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. "Lyonel Feininger von Gelmeroda nach Manhattan: Retrospektive der Gemälde," July 3–October 11, 1998, no. 105 (as "Gelmeroda XIII").
Haus der Kunst, Munich. "Lyonel Feininger von Gelmeroda nach Manhattan: Retrospektive der Gemälde," November 1, 1998–January 24, 1999, no. 105.
Nagoya. Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art. "Lyonel Feininger Retrospective in Japan," October 17–December 23, 2008, no. 101 (as "Gelmeroda XIII").
Sendai. Miyagi Museum of Art. "Lyonel Feininger Retrospective in Japan," January 10–March 1, 2009, no. 101.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Lyonel Feininger: At the Edge of the World," June 30–October 16, 2011, unnumbered cat. (fig. 168; as "Gelmeroda XIII [Gelmeroda]").
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. "Lyonel Feininger: At the Edge of the World," January 20–May 13, 2012, unnumbered cat.
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. "Lyonel Feininger: Retrospective," October 27, 2023–February 18, 2024, unnumbered cat. (p. 107; as "Gelmeroda XIII").
M[artha]. D[avidson]. "New Exhibitions of the Week. Directions in German Painting: Klee; Kandinsky; Feininger." Art News 36 (January 8, 1938), p. 14, discusses this painting on exhibit at the Nierendorf Gallery [Exh. New York 1937–38; see Ref. Barnett 2001].
"Works by 'Modernists'." New York Times (January 9, 1938), p. X10.
A. Hyatt Mayor. Artists for Victory: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art. A Picture Book of the Prize Winners. New York, 1942, unpaginated, ill.
"Artists for Victory Score Victory in Metropolitan Exhibition." Art Digest 17 (December 15, 1942), pp. 6–7, ill.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Artists for Victory: Afterthoughts on the Huge Nation-Wide Survey at the Metropolitan Museum." New York Times (December 20, 1942), p. X9.
"Record Art Show Has $52,000 Prizes." New York Times (December 8, 1942), p. 30.
"Metropolitan Museum Opens Artists for Victory Exhibition." New York Herald Tribune (December 8, 1942), p. 21.
Alfred M. Frankfurter. "The Artists for Victory Exhibition: The Paintings." Art News 41 (January 1–14, 1943), p. 12, ill. p. 8.
"Metropolitan Show: Modern Artists Invade the Museum." Life 14 (March 8, 1943), p. 45, ill. (color), calls it "The Church".
Alois Schardt inLyonel Feininger/ Marsden Hartley. Ed. Dorothy C. Miller. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York. New York, 1944, pp. 17, 47, ill. p. 33.
Alan D. Gruskin. Painting in the U.S.A. New York, 1946, ill. p. 18 (color).
"The Americans at Venice." Art News 47 (September 1948), p. 25, calls it "The Church".
Robert Beverly Hale. 100 American Painters of the 20th Century: Works Selected from the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1950, ill. p. 94 (color), calls it "The Church".
Emily Genauer. "Art and Artists: Metropolitan Museum, Like Whitman, Sings of America in Major Exhibition." New York Herald Tribune (June 18, 1950), p. D5.
Arthur Millier. "Art Masterpieces Lent for Exhibit." Los Angeles Times (June 17, 1951), p. 11, calls it "The Church".
Robert M. Coates. "The Art Galleries: Five and One." New Yorker 32 (March 10, 1956), p. 120.
Henry Geldzahler. American Painting in the Twentieth Century. New York, 1965, pp. 142–43, ill., calls it "Church at Gelmeroda".
Doris Reno. "Miami's Old 17th Century Friend Found Shining in a New Setting." Miami Herald (August 22, 1965), p. 21E, calls it "Church at Gelmerode".
Marshall B. Davidson. The American Heritage History of the Artists' America. New York, 1973, pp. 334–35, ill. (color), calls it "Church at Gelmeroda" and dates it about 1936.
Henry Geldzahler. Twelve Americans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., New York State Senate, Albany. New York, 1980, pp. 10–11, ill.
Terence Measham in20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Australian National Gallery. Canberra, 1986, p. 58, ill. (color).
William S. Lieberman. 20th Century Art: Selections from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vol. 1, Painting: 1905–1945. New York, 1986, pp. 50–51, 63, ill. (color, overall and detail), calls it "Gelmeroda, Number 13".
Roland März inLyonel Feininger von Gelmeroda nach Manhattan: Retrospektive der Gemälde. Ed. Roland März. Exh. cat., Neue Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Berlin, 1998, p. 39.
Andreas Hüneke inLyonel Feininger von Gelmeroda nach Manhattan: Retrospektive der Gemälde. Ed. Roland März. Exh. cat., Neue Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Berlin, 1998, pp. 184–85, 366, no. 105, ill. (color).
Tom Rosenthal. "Lyonel Feininger." Modern Painters 11 (Winter 1998), p. 102.
R.W. Apple Jr. "In Berlin, a Reshuffling of the Artistic Deck." New York Times (October 11, 1998), p. AR38.
Vivian Endicott Barnett inMies in America. Ed. Phyllis Lambert. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 2001, pp. 93, 219 n. 13.
Ulla Fölsing. "Die Kirche im Dorf." Weltkunst 74 (September 15, 2004), pp. 61–63, ill.
Barbara Haskell in Barbara Haskell. Lyonel Feininger: At the Edge of the World. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 2011, pp. 158, 196 n. 364, pp. 248, 254, fig. 168 (color).
Maurizio Scudiero inLyonel Feininger (1871–1956). Ed. Manuel Fontán del Junco and Aida Capa. Exh. cat., Fundación Juan March. Madrid, 2017, p. 64, fig. 13 (color).
Ingrid Pfeiffer inLyonel Feininger: Retrospective. Ed. Ingrid Pfeiffer. Exh. cat., Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. Munich, 2023, pp. 29–30, 262, ill. p. 107 (color), discusses it in relation to the Gelmeroda series.
Lyonel Charles Feininger (American, New York 1871–1956 New York)
1935
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