Painting was “a path to the
intangibility of the divine.” -Feininger
Feininger’s work shows both the structure of cubism, and the
freedom of expressionism. The Cubist influence is obvious with dramatic and
harsh lines cutting through the paintings, but then through his expressionism
influences, he softens and distorts the images to create something unlike
either of these movements. This individuality came from his surroundings of
Berlin, his photography and his wood carvings. He painted the Berlin
skyscrapers in such a way to show their somehow portentous stance, yet see
their beauty with light illuminating them and took this same approach with his
seascapes. His photography also aided this, allowing him to see his
surroundings in a different manner to how a painter would view them, giving him
an in depth vision which he could then remove aspects of detail from. Finally,
his wood carvings helped with his cubist influence, with sharp lines against
the soft and natural wood, a contrast that can also be seen in his paintings.
Feininger’s work has influenced me with the colour use.
Within the sections of his work, there are very subtle colour changes, but when
the section changes, the colours dramatically change too, whilst still
complementing each other. With a palate knife, I am attempting to create this
contrast of subtle changes with dramatic changes incorporated too.
