Lyonel Charles Feininger or Lyonel Feininger, the German-American 'Expressionist' painter, printmaker, and caricaturist, was born on July 17, 1871. His father, Karl Feininger, was a violinist from Durlach in Baden (South West Germany) and his mother, Elizabeth Cecilia Feininger, was a singer. Lyonel inherited this creative trait from both his parents and took up violin at an early age. Most of his childhood was spent in New York, but in the year 1887, the Feiningers moved to Berlin.
During 1888-92, Lyonel took up painting and drawing classes at the Gewerbeschule in Hamburg & Königliche Kunst-Akademie. He studied under Ernst Hancke, Karl Schlabitz, and Filippo Colarossi. Feininger also worked as caricaturist for magazines, such as Harper's Round Table, Harper's Young People, Humoristische Blätter, Lustige Blätter, Das Narrenschiff, Berliner Tageblatt, and Ulk. His cartoon strips, "The Kin-der-Kids" and "Wee Willie Winkie's" World came in 1906-07 and were quite popular. Clara Fürst, the daughter of the painter, Gustav Fürst, was his first wife. The marriage blessed the couple with two daughters. Lyonel had more children with his second wife, Julia Berg.
'Cubism' influenced Lyonel Feininger, after he joined the 'Berliner Sezession' in 1909 and exhibited at the 'Salon des.' He gave 'Cubism' his personal touch in his works. In 1912, Lyonel painted his first 'Cubist' art piece, which had the influence of 'Section d'Or' group with light playing a dominant role in most of his structures and color compositions. "Jesuiten III (Jesuits III), 1915," is his famous painting of this period. Sailboats and skyscrapers seemed to captivate the artist, as they were mostly the themes in many of his oils and watercolors.
In 1913 & 1917, Feininger took part in the 'Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon' at Herwarth Walden's 'Sturm' gallery in Berlin, where he exhibited some of his works too. In 1919, Lyonel Feininger designed the cover for an 'Expressionist' woodblock cathedral, the 'Bauhaus manifesto.' At Bauhaus, Feininger also taught graphic art and painting until 1926. In 1924, he founded the Blaue Vier group with his friends Blaue Reiter, Wassily Kandinsky, Klee, and Alexei von Jawlensky. The same year he painted his famous work, "Gaberndorf II." In 1931, Lyonel moved to Berlin after having his first complete retrospective at the 'Kronprinzen-Palais.' He also showed passion for woodcuts in his later years and created more than 100 woodcuts, while also carving small figures for his children. After World War II, Feininger became the member of Novembergruppe, founded by César Klein and Max Pechstein in Berlin.
In 1937, the artist moved to New York because of the Nazi rule in Germany, as they had confiscated 400 of his works, out of which 19 were shown at the traveling exhibition 'Degenerate Art.' In the USA, Lyonel's work was recognized no earlier than 1944 when he had a roaring retrospective at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Later on, Feininger started his own school, where he taught art until his last days. He passed away on Jan 13, 1956.
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