Feininger tour

The Feininger tour, which was initiated by the Friends and Sponsors of the Moritzburg Art Museum Halle (Saale) e. V. in 2003, follows the artist’s footsteps through the city. Lyonel Feininger created eleven paintings with motifs of the city of Halle (Saale) between 1929 and 1931, to which this tour is dedicated. Thus, the visual axes, as Feininger once captured them, can be reconstructed at their original locations. Today three of the eleven paintings are in Halle (Saale) again and can be viewed in the Museum of Art Moritzburg.
A

Marktkirche at dusk, 1930

The Marktkirche, which unites two churches, was a fascinating motif for Feininger. He painted it four times. He moved his point of view so far into the Leipziger Straße that only a narrow strip and the southwestern corner can be seen.
B

Marienkirche with the arrow, 1930

Marienkirche with the arrow is the most abstract work by Feininger of all his Halle pictures. He chosed an elevated position through which neither to be recognize the Marktplatz nor the walls of the church.
C

At the Trödel, 1929

At Feininger’s time, a tiny road led from the Marktplatz to the Trödel. In the Middle Ages stately trading houses or small shops were situated at that place. The Trödel does not exist today, because to gave way to new buildings in the 1960s.
D

The towers over the city, 1931

The painting shows again the Marktkirche. A proximity to Feininger´s sea pictures are clear. So the Marktkirche looks like a ship on the high seas.
E

Marienkirche I, 1929

Feininger quickly realized the floor level differences in Halle. Especially by walking on the stairs from Hallmarkt to Marktplatz this will be clearly.
F

Marktkirche at night, 1931

For this painting Feininger needed three attempts, although the point of view is similar to Marktkirche I. It is traversed by a mystical light.
G

Roter Turm I, 1930

This painting was created from an unusual perspective: the narrowness of the intersection of three streets melts into darkness, and the houses move together. Behind a bend, however, the unclouded view of the Red Tower opens up.
H

Roter Turm II, 1930

The close intersection of three streets had a special drama for Feininger. This painting reflects the atmosphere of the morning.
I

The Cathedral of Halle, 1931

Feininger also worked on this painting for several years. From his studio in the Moritzburg he could see the cathedral and was always impressed by its idiosyncratic form.
J

The east choir of the cathedral in Halle, 1931

In this depiction of the cathedral, Feininger attempts to emphasise the gothic idea of the building. Bright, transparent colours support this.
K

Bölbergasse, 1931

Feininger begins this as one of the last images of the Halle series. The experience of the dynamic composition is still comprehensible today. Bölbergasse is a war loss.