Feininger << FY nihng uhr >>, Lyonel (1871-1956), was an American painter whose works combine qualities of Cubism and Expressionism. In his mature work, he uses flat crystalline planes of color and thin straight lines.
Feininger was born on July 17, 1871, in New York City. His parents were musicians. In 1887, he went to Germany to join his parents, who were on tour. Feininger stayed in Europe and was a political and satirical cartoonist in Berlin and Paris from 1894 to 1908. He then turned to painting and soon earned an international reputation. In 1919, Feininger became the first professor chosen by Walter Gropius for the Bauhaus school of art and design in Germany. He did not return to the United States until 1937, after the Nazis labeled him a “degenerate artist.” He died on Jan. 13, 1956.
See also Bauhaus.
