Ten Woodcuts by Lyonel Feininger

1917

First solo exhibition at Der Sturm

In 1917 his first solo exhibition opens at the Sturm gallery in Berlin and brings him fame. In these years he works with the Expressionists gathered around the gallery and, under their influence, produces many graphic works.

1919

First faculty member of the Bauhaus

When Walter Gropius founds the Bauhaus, Feininger becomes his first faculty appointment and the master artist in charge of the printmaking workshop. Among those who attend his workshops are Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack, Hans Friedrich Grohs and Margarete Koehler-Bittkow.

1924

Founding of “The Blue Four”

In 1924 he becomes one of the founders of the exhibition society “The Blue Four” (German: Blaue Vier).

1928

Start of his photographic work

From 1928 until the mid-1950s he produces a large body of photographic work; in Dessau his neighbor is the experimental photographer László Moholy-Nagy, who encourages him. He keeps the photographs within his circle of friends and never shows them to the public in his lifetime, giving only a few prints to Walter Gropius and Alfred H. Barr Jr.

1933

The Nazis declare his art “degenerate”

When the Nazis come to power in 1933, the situation becomes unbearable for Feininger and his wife; the Nazis declare his work “degenerate.”

1936–1937

Leaving Germany for America

After the 1936 “degenerate art” exhibition but before the 1937 exhibition in Munich, Feininger and his wife leave for America; by other accounts, this happened in 1938. He first teaches at Mills College, then returns to New York.