For Feininger, who drew inspiration from nature, volcanos provided powerful imagery. Though he never saw one in real life, he was familiar with volcanos from works of art and stories. One of the works of art that made a particularly strong impression on Feininger is an undated colored lithograph, Stromboli, by Friedrich Weber (1792–1847). In it, Weber depicts Mount Stromboli erupting in the Tyrrhenian Sea. When Feininger acquired the work in 1913, he wrote to his wife, Julia:

“It is primitive but actually in its unculturedness it appears strong and stimulating. It shows the fire spitting mountain Stromboli in a most naïve manner, flames, and dark smoke clouds above, in the foreground a sailing boat—pure joy as spot + silhouette.”

We are pleased to include Weber’s wonderful print together with Feininger’s watercolor. This print must have come to Feininger’s mind when he heard the news that on June 28, 1921, Mount Stromboli had again erupted. He had completed his own watercolor in March of that year, some months before this latest eruption of the active volcano. His work features a trio of volcanos spewing smoke, lava, and rocks from their jagged cones. These phenomena dwarf a small train in the foreground, which appears to speed away from the dangerous eruptions with all its might. As with many of his works, Feininger’s cartoonish, simplified rendering of the dramatic scene in Feuerspeiendes Gebirge (Volcanic Mountains) was inspired by the drawings of his three sons and his work with woodcuts. Decades later, in 1942, he used the watercolor as the base for his painting, Volcano (Moeller 444).