Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956) came to Hamburg from New York with his parents in 1887 – his first stop for artistic training at the School of Applied Arts. Later he moved to Berlin and in 1921 became head of the Graphic Workshop at the Bauhaus in Weimar . He originally wanted to study violin.
The 2026 Bach Festival special project, "The Art of Fugue," is dedicated to Feininger in an exhibition and lecture. Art historian Ulrich Luckhardt , a Feininger specialist, will speak on the 70th anniversary of Feininger's death about his connection to Hamburg, his synesthetic interests, his musical endeavors, and his Bach studies. Feininger analyzed *The Art of Fugue * and *The Well-Tempered Clavier* , and composed 13 fugues himself between 1921 and 1926 – inspired by the Bach revival initiated by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
