Each month, WAM releases a new “art card” – a free, postcard sized print of an object from the museum’s collection. A description of the work is included on the back of the card. For the month of April, the art card (available at the information desk) features Lyonel Feininger’s work, Dröbsdorf I.

Featuring Feininger in the month of April is an appropriate commemoration of the 74th anniversary of the first retrospective exhibition of Feininger’s work to be held in the United States. This exhibition, comprised of 19 oils and 40 watercolors painted by Feininger between the years of 1909 to 1937, opened at the University Gallery in April of 1938.

The Minneapolis Star published a photograph of Feininger on April 12, 1938, as evidenced by a clipping found in the Gallery press books. Another article from March 26, 1938, announced the exhibit and commented upon Feininger’s work,

“His paintings are abstract and suggestive rather than realistic, combining precise structural line and dream-like moods. He is a musician of ability.”

Though American born, Feininger spent nearly 50 years of his life in Germany, where he came to reject the “Nazi dictation on aesthetics” and returned to the United States to continue to produce modern abstractions.

If you live too far away or are otherwise unable to drop in to the museum to pick up the card of the month, WAM’s online resource, Artful Writing, can provide you with additional information about the art and about the artist.