Sale: 600 / Evening Sale, Dec. 05. 2025 in Munich 
Lot 125000956
Lot 125000956 
Raumbeispiel
125000956
Lyonel Feininger
Figuren in Rot, Blau, Weiß und Gelb, Ca. 1955/56.
Oil on burlap
Estimate:
€ 140,000 - 180,000
$ 163,800 - 210,600
Information on buyer's premium, taxation and resale right compensation will be available four weeks before the auction.
Figuren in Rot, Blau, Weiß und Gelb. Ca. 1955-1956.
Oil on burlap.
38 x 61 cm (14.9 x 24 in).
The work is mentioned as an “unfinished work” in the addendum to Hans Hess’s publication Lyonel Feininger, New York 1961. [AR].
• From the estate of Feininger's son, T. Lux Feininger.
• This is the first time it is offered on the international auction market.
• Rarity: the only known painting with the motif of the small figures, also called “ghosties” or “Männekens.”
• Feininger's witty creatures are usually only known from watercolors and drawings, which the artist mostly made as personal gifts and on greeting cards.
• Elusiveness, humor, and character: a remarkable stylistic reference to Feininger's early days as a caricaturist.
Achim Moeller, Director of the Lyonel Feininger Project, New York–Berlin, has confirmed the authenticity of this work, which is registered in the Lyonel Feininger Project archive under number 2023-10-08-25. The painting is listed in Lyonel Feininger: The Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings by Achim Moeller under number 569. The work is accompanied by a certificate.
Additional information was provided by Achim Moeller, The Lyonel Feininger Project, New York – Berlin.
PROVENANCE: Estate of the artist, New York.
Theodore Lux (T. Lux) Feininger, Cambridge, MA (inherited).
Estate of T. Lux Feininger, Cambridge, MA (inherited).
EXHIBITION: An Exhibition of Works by Lyonel Feininger, T. Lux Feininger, Andreas Feininger, Laurence Feininger, Widener Gallery, Austin Arts Center, Trinity College, Hartford, Oct. 1-30, 1967, cat. no. 7 (mentioned as "Untitled [Spooky Figures]" and dated 1956).
Lyonel Feininger: Retrospective in Japan, Yokosuka Museum of Art, Yokosuka, Aug. 2-Oct. 5, 2008, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Higashisakura, Oct. 17-Dec. 23, 2008, Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, Jan. 10-March 1, 2009, cat. no. 133, p. 197 (mentioned as "Untitled (Figures in Red, Blue, White and Yellow)" and dated ca. 1953, illustrated in color on p. 158, with an exhib. label on the reverse).
Lyonel Feininger. Zurück in Amerika. 1937-1956, Foundation Moritzburg, Kunstmuseum des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle (Saale), May 16-Aug. 23, 2009, cat. no. 35, p. 222 (illusztrated in color on p. 197, mentioned as "Ohne Titel (Figuren in Rot, Blau, Weiß und Gelb)" and dated 1953).
LITERATURE: Achim Moeller, “(Figures in Red, Blue, White, and Yellow), c. 1955–1956 (Moeller 569),” in: Lyonel Feininger: The Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, http://feiningerproject.org/ (accessed October 8, 2025).
Hans Hess, Lyonel Feininger, New York 1961, No. C, p. 300 (listed here in the addendum of the “unfinished works”).
- -
Sebastian Ehlert, “From Papileo, with Love,” in: Moeller Fine Art (ed.), The Enchanted World of Lyonel Feininger, exhibition catalog, New York 2019, pp. 75-79, here p. 77 (with color ill. no. 5, p. 79, mentioned as “(Spooky Figures)” and dated to approx. 1950-1955).
Oil on burlap.
38 x 61 cm (14.9 x 24 in).
The work is mentioned as an “unfinished work” in the addendum to Hans Hess’s publication Lyonel Feininger, New York 1961. [AR].
• From the estate of Feininger's son, T. Lux Feininger.
• This is the first time it is offered on the international auction market.
• Rarity: the only known painting with the motif of the small figures, also called “ghosties” or “Männekens.”
• Feininger's witty creatures are usually only known from watercolors and drawings, which the artist mostly made as personal gifts and on greeting cards.
• Elusiveness, humor, and character: a remarkable stylistic reference to Feininger's early days as a caricaturist.
Achim Moeller, Director of the Lyonel Feininger Project, New York–Berlin, has confirmed the authenticity of this work, which is registered in the Lyonel Feininger Project archive under number 2023-10-08-25. The painting is listed in Lyonel Feininger: The Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings by Achim Moeller under number 569. The work is accompanied by a certificate.
Additional information was provided by Achim Moeller, The Lyonel Feininger Project, New York – Berlin.
PROVENANCE: Estate of the artist, New York.
Theodore Lux (T. Lux) Feininger, Cambridge, MA (inherited).
Estate of T. Lux Feininger, Cambridge, MA (inherited).
EXHIBITION: An Exhibition of Works by Lyonel Feininger, T. Lux Feininger, Andreas Feininger, Laurence Feininger, Widener Gallery, Austin Arts Center, Trinity College, Hartford, Oct. 1-30, 1967, cat. no. 7 (mentioned as "Untitled [Spooky Figures]" and dated 1956).
Lyonel Feininger: Retrospective in Japan, Yokosuka Museum of Art, Yokosuka, Aug. 2-Oct. 5, 2008, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Higashisakura, Oct. 17-Dec. 23, 2008, Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, Jan. 10-March 1, 2009, cat. no. 133, p. 197 (mentioned as "Untitled (Figures in Red, Blue, White and Yellow)" and dated ca. 1953, illustrated in color on p. 158, with an exhib. label on the reverse).
Lyonel Feininger. Zurück in Amerika. 1937-1956, Foundation Moritzburg, Kunstmuseum des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle (Saale), May 16-Aug. 23, 2009, cat. no. 35, p. 222 (illusztrated in color on p. 197, mentioned as "Ohne Titel (Figuren in Rot, Blau, Weiß und Gelb)" and dated 1953).
LITERATURE: Achim Moeller, “(Figures in Red, Blue, White, and Yellow), c. 1955–1956 (Moeller 569),” in: Lyonel Feininger: The Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, http://feiningerproject.org/ (accessed October 8, 2025).
Hans Hess, Lyonel Feininger, New York 1961, No. C, p. 300 (listed here in the addendum of the “unfinished works”).
- -
Sebastian Ehlert, “From Papileo, with Love,” in: Moeller Fine Art (ed.), The Enchanted World of Lyonel Feininger, exhibition catalog, New York 2019, pp. 75-79, here p. 77 (with color ill. no. 5, p. 79, mentioned as “(Spooky Figures)” and dated to approx. 1950-1955).
125000956
Lyonel Feininger
Figuren in Rot, Blau, Weiß und Gelb, Ca. 1955/56.
Oil on burlap
Estimate:
€ 140,000 - 180,000
$ 163,800 - 210,600
Information on buyer's premium, taxation and resale right compensation will be available four weeks before the auction.
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