The Bicycle Race
1912
Artist, American, 1871 - 1956


East Building Mezzanine, Gallery 217-B
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 80.3 × 100.3 cm (31 5/8 × 39 1/2 in.)
framed: 86.36 × 106.68 × 7.62 cm (34 × 42 × 3 in.) -
Accession
1985.64.17
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
(Galerie Ferdinand Möller, Cologne), probably by 1951; Maria Möller-Garny, Cologne;[1] (Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York), by 1968;[2] purchased 24 October 1972 by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia; gift 1985 to NGA.
[1] The painting is described in the literature as having been in "the Möller collection". Further research is needed to determine the exact sequence of ownership between Ferdinand Möller and Maria Möller-Garny, as they are each credited as lender of the painting to exhibitions in the 1950s and 1960s. Ferdinand Möller was also both a dealer and apparently a private collector, and it is uncertain whether the painting was part of the sale stock or the private collection.
[2] The painting is listed as "for sale" in the Hutton Galleries catalogue of their 1968 exhibition Fauves and Expressionists. In the 1970-1971 exhibition catalogue The Cubist Epoch, the painting is listed as being from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Hutton.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1913
Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon, Berlin, 1913, no. 133.
1936
30 Deutsche Künstler, Galerie Ferdinand Möller, Berlin, 1936.
1950
Ruhrfestspiele, Recklinghausen, Germany, 1950.
1951
Die Alten Meister der Modernen Kunst in Deutschland, Galerie Ferdinand Möller, Cologne, 1951-1952, no. 7.
1954
Lyonel Feininger, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1954-1955, no. 3, repro.
Lyonel Feininger, Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste, Munich; Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover, 1954, no. 3, repro.
1955
Documenta: Kunst des XX. Jahrhunderts , Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, 1955, no. 164, pl. 6.
1957
Malerei des 20. Jahrhunderts in Kölner Privatbesitz [Paintings of the 20th Century in Cologne Private Collections], Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, 1957, no. 24, repro.
1959
Art in Revolt: Germany 1905-25. Exhibition in Aid of World Refugee Year, Marlborough Fine Art Limited, London, 1959, no. 44, repro.
1961
Der Sturm: Herwarth Walden und die Europäische Avantgarde, Berlin 1912-1932, Nationalgalerie, Orangerie des Schlosses Charlottenburg, Berlin, 1961, no. 92, repro.
1962
Europäische Kunst 1912, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, 1962, no. 51, pl. 95.
1966
Sammlung Ferdinand Möller, Dom Galerie, Cologne, 1966, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
1968
Fauves and Expressionists, Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, 1968, no. 16, color repro.
1970
The Cubist Epoch, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1970-1971, no. 81, pl. 137.
1978
Aspects of Twentieth-Century Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978-1979, no. 15, repro.
1988
Mythos Italien: Wintermärchen Deutschland, Haus der Kunst, Munich, March-May 1988, no. 40, repro.
Stationen der Moderne: Die bedeutenden Kunstausstellungen des 20. Jahrhunderts in Deutschland, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, September-November 1988, no. 3/14, repro. (exhibition closed January 1989; NGA painting returned early to be included in 10th anniversary of the East Building installation).
1998
Lyonel Feininger: Von Gelmeroda nach Manhattan, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Haus der Kunst, Munich, 1998-1999, no. 17, repro.
1999
Berlin Metropolis: Jews and the New Culture, 1890-1918, The Jewish Museum, New York, 1999-2000, no. 9, repro.
2002
The Avant-Garde in Danish and European Art 1909-19, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, 2002-2003, no. 28, repro.
2003
Lyonel Feininger's Figurative Paintings, Hamburger Kunsthalle, 2003-2004, no catalogue.
2006
Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso: Diálogo de Vanguardas [Avant-Garde Dialogues], Fundaçäo Calouste Gulbenkian, Temporary Exhibitions Gallery, Lisbon, 2006-2007, no. 58, repro.
2008
Lyonel Feininger Retrospective in Japan, Yokosuka Museum of Art; Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya; The Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, 2008-2009, no. 53, repro.
2011
Lyonel Feininger, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2011-2012, unnumbered catalogue, fig. 64.
Bibliography
1959
Hess, Hans and Julia Feininger. Lyonel Feininger. New York, 1959: 92, 94, 176 plate 4, 259, no. 94.
1989
Strick, Jeremy. Twentieth Century Painting and Sculpture: Selections for the Tenth Anniversary of the East Building. Washington, D.C., 1989: repro. 24, 25.
1992
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 176, repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 409, no. 341, color repro.
2018
Moeller, Achim. Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956): The Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings. Online resource, www.feiningerproject.org, 2018: no. 101.
Inscriptions
lower left: Feininger / 1912
Wikidata ID
Q20191630