Ships (Schiffe) 1919

Lyonel Feininger made this black ink on paper woodcut print called Ships. It is a game of contrasts, and a dance between chaos and order. There is something really exciting about Feininger's mark making in this print. You can see the direction he has cut into the wood to make the image, the texture almost mimics the choppy water the ships are sailing on. You can see the black ink is dense, opaque, and solid next to the smooth surface of the paper. The contrast between these two simple materials helps to highlight the strong shapes in the image. Look closely at the masts of the central ship, rising like fractured skyscrapers, or maybe like trees that have lost their leaves in the wintertime. These lines are grouped closely together and contrast with the open space around them, really drawing your attention. Feininger made several prints and paintings of ships. Much like Marsden Hartley, the imagery is so clear and direct, yet always slightly destabilized. A bit like life really, isn’t it?