Bathers on the Beach I 1912 1912

Lyonel Feininger made this painting, Bathers on the Beach I, in 1912, and it’s full of these lovely angular figures. They look like they’re made out of stained glass or paper cut-outs. The painting has a very physical feel because the color is laid down flatly, and there are very sharp edges between the tones. The figures are almost like architectural forms; in fact, Feininger was working as an architect before he became a painter. My eye keeps landing on the black diagonal lines behind the foreground figures. They're so dark, and they run right through the painting. They also really flatten out the space, and make you feel like the figures are trapped behind them. It’s a strange kind of beach! Feininger’s work reminds me a bit of Marsden Hartley, especially in its stylized figures. But there’s also something very modern and strange about this work. It shows how the exchange of ideas and approaches is such an important part of art history.