Born in New York, of German descent, Lyonel Feininger was invited by Walter Gropius to teach etching at the Bauhaus, the famous art school founded in Weimar, in 1919. The rise of Nazism and its frontal attack against artistic modernity forced Feininger to leave Germany and return to his native country in 1937.

Produced in 1932, this work expresses Feininger’s despair in the face of the events that were unfolding throughout Europe. It represents the town of Deep, on the Baltic coast of Germany, where he and his wife Julia had spent their summers since 1924. Instead of capturing the stillness and peace of a summer holiday on the beaches of northern Europe, he produced a symbolic composition; a distressing drawing that expresses his concern for a catastrophic future. Thus, the town’s name can also be understood as a play on words.

What is the figure that appears in the sky? Is it a cloud? A giant bird? A plane? Feininger introduces this element into a solid and organized structure, symbolizing an unknown threat.