Feininger

When I lived in London, I spent a good deal of time in Hampstead Heath. After my Heath walks, I'd usually go for a potter around the High Street, grab a crepe at that crepe stall that always has a super long wait, and nose around the Oxfam shop. The Oxfam shop in Hampstead, as one might imagine, was usually filled with stuff from posh people's homes. I went there a lot.

I remember that on my penultimate visit to the shop, I tried to convince a worker that she could probably sell a really lovely tea pot from the GDR (it had a maker's mark) for more than £3.99. She actually couldn't understand what I was saying (Excuse me? What do you mean?) because English wasn't her first language, and I'll bet my mumbly Californian accent threw her off. Continuing on as only a pushy American could, I busted out some ancient-old high school Spanish that equally tanked: Um, como se dice...?  El Pais...no mas existe.  (My attempt was "que lame".)

Then I found a photograph bearing the name of Eleonore "Lore" Feininger, daughter of Lyonel Feininger, on its matting. The black and white picture was either signed by Lore, who had been a photographer, or it was a photo of Lore by someone whose name remains unknown. The image shows a happy, smiling, young woman with large, light-colored eyes. She's wearing a slim wedding ring and has her hair in a bob. I'd date the picture from the 20s. The matting and frame were not top quality, but they seemed period; the picture was compelling, but, without knowing if Lore is the subject or the photographer (or both) it's hard to know what the 5"x7" portrait is worth. I am a huge fan of Lyonel Feininger's art, so, to me, the picture is invaluable.
-probably sounds silly, but that's how I feel.

Apparently, no one at Oxfam had 'googled' Lore Feininger, so only priced the portrait at £8.99. At the time, I neither bought the photo nor tried to talk the English-challenged shop worker into putting the portrait aside and contacting an auction house. (Also, that would have been BIG ask.)

I can imagine that someone in the Feininger family must have, at some point, lived in or around Hampstead. I'm guessing there must have been a spring cleaning and the photograph was given away to the charity shop.

Anyway, a couple of days later, I went back up to Hampstead and bought the photo. The internet searches that the hubs and I engaged in continued to turn up nothing. Online, there are only a handful of pictures with Lore Feininger's name attached, and, of them, only two readily viewable. Apparently, Lore had photographed other photographers of renown--T. Lux Feininger, her brother, and Erich Salomon and those pictures have sold quite well at auction.

So, is what I have an image taken by Lore? And, if so, who is the subject? My plan was to write to the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin, send them a copy of the photo, and see what they can tell me about its provenance. Given that both Lore's dad and brother were instructors at Bauhaus, I'd imagine the archive could shed a little light on the subject. Now, some years later, I still haven't gotten around to figuring out the photo's origin story. Alas...

Below is a work by Lyonel Feininger, Lore's papa.

Gelmeroda by L. Feininger