During his childhood in New York in the 1870s and 1880s, Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956) watched the mighty steam engines at Grand Central Station. These marvels of American ingenuity left a lasting impression on the young boy. In 1944, Feininger reminisced to Alfred H. Barr, Jr., director of The Museum of Modern Art, New York:

“The earliest impressions I have of machinery were the trains, the locomotives, half terrifying and wholly fascinating…at the age of 5 years I already drew, from memory, dozens of trains thus seen from above and in accurate perspective. Later I became more observing of details. There were the black locos of the N.Y.C., with ‘diamond’ smokestacks, and the locomotives of the N.Y.N.H. and H.R.R., with elegant straight smokestacks painted, like the driving-wheels, a bright vermillion red, and oh, the brass bands about the boiler and the ‘fancy’ steam domes of polished brass, bright cylinder-heads….”

Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956)

(Three Locomotives, Two Tenders), 1913-14

Carved and painted wood (L x W x H)

4 1/2 x 1 1/4 x 2 5/8 in. (11.4 x 3.2 x 6.7 cm)

7 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 2 1/4 in. (19.1 x 3.8 x 5.7 cm)

7 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 1 3/4 in. (19.1 x 3.8 x 4.5 cm)

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After he moved to Germany in 1887, Feininger continued making etchings, watercolors, and paintings of his beloved American trains. He also began developing a series of wooden toy trains, inventing and patenting a “gliding block,” which allowed them to slide across the floor without wheels. In 1913, Munich manufacturer Otto Löwenstein agreed to produce Feininger’s toys. The artist spent months away from his home and young family in Berlin-Zehlendorf to work in the tranquility of a studio in Weimar. “I am thoroughly involved with the models,” he wrote to his wife, Julia, in 1913. “I am making the trickiest designs, carefully thought out in every detail….This work—with a practical purpose besides—has rejuvenated me into a happy boy of fifteen.” The accuracy of the technical drawings he made for the models, and his expertly formed prototypes, reflect his devotion to the project.

Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956)

(Profile for Model Train Set, Two Engines), 1914

Watercolor and ink on paper
4 3/4 x 13 in. (12 x 33 cm)

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The outbreak of World War I cut the project short, and Feininger could only complete a limited number of prototypes. He gave them to his children and friends. Recognizing their artistic value, his sons T. Lux and Andreas published Lyonel Feininger: City at the Edge of the World in 1965, a book devoted to their father’s model locomotives and trains, as well as his carved wooden houses, figures, and ships. They positioned his toys as an extension of his creativity offering “insight into the formal ideas of their creator.”

Lyonel Feininger (1871&ndash;1956)
(Steam Locomotive), c. 1928
Silver gelatin print
4 9/16&nbsp;x 5 13/16&nbsp;in. (11.6x 14.8&nbsp;cm)

Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956)
(Steam Locomotive), c. 1928
Silver gelatin print
4 9/16 x 5 13/16 in. (11.6x 14.8 cm)

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Images

Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956)

(Profile for Model Train Set, Green Engine), 1914

Watercolor and ink on paper

3 1/4 x 13 in. (8.3 x 33 cm)