The Ruin by the Sea

Museum of Modern Art, 1968. paperback. Good. 7x6x0. Museum of Modern Art, New York [Published Date: 1968]. Paper covers, 32 pp. First edition. In good condition with light bumping and creasing to edges of covers and light overall scuffing and soiling. Binding tight (staple bound). Pages lightly aged but otherwise unmarked. Includes 23 plates (some color). From 1924 through 1935, Lyonel Feininger spent summer vacations in Pomerania on the Baltic coast. Sometimes accompanied by members of his family but often alone, he reserved these months for drawings and watercolors as a respite from easel painting. During a visit in 1928, Feininger encountered a ruined Gothic church in Gelmeroda, a village near Weimar, Germany. This specific church, resonated deeply with Feininger. More than just a subject, it became a symbol of history, time's passage, and spiritual contemplation. Through numerous paintings, drawings, and prints, Feininger explored the church from diverse angles and under varied lighting, capturing its shifting moods and textures. His signature style, characterized by fragmented forms and bold colors, imbued the ruined structure with a sense of dynamism and resilience despite its dilapidated state. In total, the series numbers some thirty drawings and watercolors and three paintings, of which twenty-three are included in this booklet. [From Introduction] They reveal the fascinating metamorphosis of the ruin from factual reality to the precise and pure delineation of form characteristic of Feininger’s work...