Albertina Director Klaus Albrecht Schröder about the friendship of Lyonel Feininger and Alfred Kubin. (en) - a podcast by CastYourArt.com

Albertina Director Klaus Albrecht Schröder about the friendship of Lyonel Feininger and Alfred Kubin.
In a letter of 1912, Alfred Kubin addresses Lyonel Feininger with the words „Of today’s artists, I appreciate you especially” and the offer to exchange pictures. These works will be on display in the exhibition Albertina as well. Already in 1910, Feininger was inspired to his series “In the city at the end of the world” by Kubin’s fantasy novel “The Other Side”.

For the first time, the correspondence between the two artists will be printed in its entirety. 37 letters, some with photographs and drawings, are shown in the catalogue, the last letter being from 1919. Presumably, the two artists have only met twice in person. Only one of the two encounters is documented, Kubin’s visit to Feininger in Berlin in the year 1913.

The Albertina confronts the work of the two friends with approximately 100 paintings and drawings, in thematic sections (“The City at the End of the World”, Carneval, Riot, War”, Trains and Ships”..). The exhibition shows what they had in common, but also the differences in their respective work. They both had a penchant for drawing, for small formats, and also for caricature, distortion and nightmarish scenarios.

Setting off from early drawings by Kubin and caricatures by Feininger, the exhibition traces the artistic development of both and contrasts their work, demonstrating correlations and influences. The exchange of letters shows that Feininger and Kubin entertained a very close friendship on an artistic and human level, in spite of all differences.

In our exhibition-portrait Albertina director Klaus Albrecht Schröder gives us an insight into the friendship of the artists and highlights the major themes of the exhibition which is on display till January 10th, 2016. (written by Cem Angeli) An exhibition portrait by CastYourArt | castyourart.com

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