American Art Collaborative

Mansion on the Beach is one of several woodcuts that Lyonel Feininger made of a beachside scene that he had sketched while visiting Heringsdorf, a German seaside area near the Polish border. In each of these woodcuts, Feininger transforms the original landscape into a dynamic, abstract composition. Hills, clouds, and trees become angular shapes, while straight and diagonal lines add energy and movement. Feininger’s geometric style reflects the influence of expressionism and other abstract movements that flourished in early 20th-century Germany. Originally from New York, Feininger spent most of his artistic career in Berlin. He first gained recognition as a cartoonist, but later became a teacher and master printmaker at the Bauhaus, one of the most important schools of design of the 20th century. Primarily a painter, Feininger began making woodcuts during World War I, when wartime conditions made oil paints difficult to obtain.