Introduction

In 1967 I started work at the Marlborough-Gerson Gallery in New York. I occasionally stayed later than my colleagues, not because I was overly ambitious but because I played the violin, and the acoustics in the Marcel Breuer–designed gallery were exceptional. On one such evening in April 1968, I was called into the office of my boss, Francis K. Lloyd. He had exciting news: the gallery had just made an agreement to represent the estate of Lyonel Feininger, and he believed that I would be the best suited to take charge of the estate, perhaps because I was fluent in German. Needless to say, I was overjoyed to be asked to represent the work of an artist whom I had so admired since my school years in Switzerland.

In the hope of piecing together a more complete picture of the artist and his work, and with the goal of organizing an exhibition, I began to meet regularly with his widow, Julia, who was then 87 years old. When speaking to me, with great tenderness and conviction, about her beloved “Papileo,” Julia always used English, which at first struck me as odd since we shared German as our native language. I came to realize, however, that this was the careful decision of a woman who had always been deeply invested in her husband’s legacy. Julia’s deliberate choice of English in our conversations made clear to me the idea that Feininger, despite having lived almost 50 years in Germany, was to be remembered not as a German artist but as an American one. Indeed, as Feininger once remarked himself, in Germany he was always regarded as “the American,” though he was considered German following his return to the United States in 1937.

My first official Feininger exhibition opened almost exactly a year after that memorable evening of violin practice. The Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, designed by a Bauhaus master, was the perfect space for such a show. The art historian Peter Selz, who had met Feininger in the early 1950s, wrote a stunning catalogue essay, “The Precision of Fantasy,” and to this day the exhibition remains one of the most comprehensive of the artist’s work.

Over the next two years I continued to organize smaller Feininger exhibitions at the Marlborough galleries in London and Rome, and developed relationships with Feininger’s three sons: Andreas, Laurence, and Theodore “T” Lux. Their friendship and support over the years proved invaluable, as did their understanding of their father’s life and work. In 1971 I left Marlborough and moved to London, and the following year I opened my own gallery, Achim Moeller Ltd., in Mayfair. There I stayed in touch with the Feininger family and continued to include the artist’s work in exhibitions. In the early 1980s I received a call from the lawyer for the Feininger estate, who asked if I would consider becoming its representative again. It was a considerable compliment, especially after 12 years of promoting the artist on my own. I had become more deeply involved with Feininger’s work during that time, and felt he was not as represented in the canon as he should be. When I agreed to represent the estate, I felt a keen sense of duty to be more than just an art dealer: I wanted to make a valuable contribution to Feininger scholarship.

It was only after I relocated the gallery to New York, however, in 1984, that I began to envision how I could do so. Until then, the most comprehensive resource for Feininger’s work had been the art historian Hans Hess’s monograph of 1959, which included a collection of mostly small black and white reproductions, each accompanied by a short description. For many years this list, compiled by Julia Feininger, had served as the only reference to Feininger’s paintings. Upon rereading the book, however, I realized that much of the information was out of date, incomplete, and even occasionally incorrect. 

Julia’s catalogue, however, provided the ideal starting point for an updated archive of Feininger’s complete works in all mediums, and for a definitive catalogue raisonné. Such is the mission of the Lyonel Feininger Project LLC, which I launched in 1987. The Project began providing information concerning Feininger’s works and authenticity opinions for auction houses, galleries, and collectors, as well as assisting museums in their research, taking over tasks previously performed by Lux. Today, research and scholarship that generates credible opinions about authenticity remains at the core of the Feininger Project, both relying on and informing our expansive archive.

The year 2018 marks the online publication of the Lyonel Feininger Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, the culmination of the work I commenced thirty years ago. Over the course of the Catalogue’s creation, I have been fortunate enough to have a number of research assistants without whom this accomplishment would have been impossible. I am particularly grateful to Stephan E. Hauser, who worked on the Catalogue for three years, and to Sebastian Ehlert, who started ten years ago as an intern and has since become the Project’s manager. Because of his work, I rank Sebastian among the world’s primary experts on Lyonel Feininger’s life and work. I also maintain contact with Feininger’s grandchildren, Tomas, Conrad, Lucas, and Charles. I am grateful to be working with them on furthering their grandfather’s legacy, and would like to thank them for their support over the years. 

The Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings should be considered a work in progress. Online publication allows the Catalogue to be constantly updated, and reflects the fact that scholarship on Feininger is alive and growing. 

It is with considerable personal satisfaction that I can make my lifetime passion for Feininger bear fruit in this way. During the life of the Feininger Project, I have amassed what may be the largest private archive of the artist’s work in existence. More important, the Catalogue Raisonné promises to increase awareness of Lyonel Feininger and to ensure his rightful place in the art-historical canon. In this way, I am certain, it will benefit both the artist’s legacy and the scholars of the future.

— Achim Moeller, June 2018