Teltow I

Leona Prasse records five early proofs, presumably printed at the Staatliches Bauhaus, Weimar, in 1914. There was a much later, published edition of approximately 25 impressions printed by Lacourière, Paris, in the early 1950s.
The present impression is an early proof not known to Prasse. The inscription states that the plate was etched in Feininger's first studio in Weimar, at Kurthstrasse 7a. The street has since been renamed Bauhausstrasse.

Teltow I marks a turning point in Feininger's printed oeuvre. With this etching, his graphic style changed almost at once towards a strictly linear, geometric mode without any staffage or anecdotal detail. In a letter to his wife Julia written in Weimar on 18 April 1914 he wrote: 'I have just finished the etching of the Teltow church, have washed it off and it looks promising. I think I have started on a new line of works with this one, no amalgamation, pure graphic without picturesque addition...' (L. Prasse, A Definitive Catalogue of his Graphic Work - Etching, Lithographs, Woodcuts, Cleveland, 1972, no. E 53, p. 86)