Lyonel Feininger, American artist, was born in New York City in 1871, to a German-American family of musicians. Feininger was originally trained as a violinist, and went to Germany with his parents to continue his musical education in 1887. Shortly after his arrival in Germany, Feininger switched his studies to drawing.
Feininger did illustrations for German and American publications to support himself while studying art in Hamburg, Berlin, and Paris. In Paris, Feininger met with many contemporary artists, and developed his own version of cubism, with special attention given to color. Feininger exhibited with the Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider), a group of German expressionist artists. He taught at the Bauhaus from 1918-1933. Feininger left Germany in 1936 when the Nazis confiscated and destroyed his art.
Feininger moved to New York City in 1938. The MoMA presented the first major exhibit of Feininger's art, in 1944. After that, many exhibitons of Feininger's art were held in the US and Europe. Feininger died in New York in 1956.
Feininger is known for his cubist work, mostly oils on canvas and prints, but also some watercolors, which, in his earlier works, involves the use of soft color. In his later works, in the 40s and 50s, the colors are much stronger.
Major works by Feininger are in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection, and The Städtiche Galerie, Frankfurt. Works by Feininger may be viewed at:
- http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/psearch?Request=S&Hname=feininger&Person=10150
- http://www.artsmia.org/search/index.cfm?type=artworks&term=feininger