The Dome in Halle 1930

Lyonel Feininger made this painting of The Dome in Halle with oils, working and reworking it until the building seems to shimmer and split before our eyes. I can just imagine him there, squinting at the cathedral, layering these semi-transparent planes of blues, greens and yellows on top of one another. See how the forms of the architecture are broken down into geometric shapes? It’s almost Cubist, almost Expressionist, but not quite either. It’s pure Feininger. I love the way he’s captured the light in this piece. The way it hits the facade of the building, creating these luminous, ethereal effects. It reminds me of stained glass, like he’s trying to capture the way light filters through the windows of a cathedral. You get the sense that he’s not just painting a building but trying to capture its spirit, its essence. And you can tell he loved the place, just by the way he looked, and then painted. I find this so inspiring! It reminds me to think about how artists are always riffing off each other, borrowing ideas, pushing boundaries, and making something new.