Wagner x Steingraeber: Pianos as works of art
What happens when a piano becomes the canvas?
For a new collaboration with Bayreuth piano maker Steingraeber, Antoine Wagner — a celebrated artist and the great-great-grandson of Richard Wagner — has transformed a series of handcrafted pianos into works that sit somewhere between instrument, sculpture and landscape.
About the collaboration
The project was conceived in Bayreuth, home of Steingraeber since 1852 and a city inseparable from the legacy of Wagner’s great-great-grandfather, composer Richard Wagner. It grew from Antoine Wagner’s ongoing exploration of nature, sound, memory and myth — and from conversations with the Steingraeber family ahead of the 150th anniversary of the Bayreuth Festival.
Rather than simply decorating finished instruments, Wagner worked closely with the Steingraeber team, spending time inside the factory and developing studies created in New York before transferring them onto the pianos themselves.
“Spending time in the factory and experiencing the craftsmanship, history, and passion alive in every instrument was an inspiring experience,” says Antoine.
The result is a collection in which the materials are as important as the imagery. As Fanny Steingraeber comments, “The pianos are therefore not merely decorated objects; they are visual scores, resonant sculptures, and portals into a larger narrative.”
Keep reading to discover the collection.
Crescendo
Steingraeber 130 T-PS | French walnut | Laser etched
Crescendo‘s imagery is laser etched onto French walnut front panels, rather than painted onto the surface, allowing Wagner’s forest forms and the natural pattern of the timber to become part of the same composition.
This October, Markson Pianos is bringing Crescendo to Decorex 2026, the interior design show at Olympia London. Following Decorex, Crescendo will also be available to view at the Markson Pianos showroom.
Continental
Steingraeber 138 K-SFM | Woods from around the world | Black polished
Continental approaches the idea of landscape through the material of the piano itself.
Its front is assembled from contrasting woods sourced across several continents, including French walnut, West African padauk, American walnut, Indonesian Makassar ebony, Brazilian Santos rosewood, Franconian plum and Australian eucalyptus.
It is perhaps the clearest expression of the project’s idea of an “Impossible Forest”: different species and geographies brought together within a single instrument.
Encore
Steingraeber 138 K-SFM | Natural oak | Sumi ink
Encore makes Wagner’s drawing more explicit.
Using traditional black Sumi ink across European oak panels, he covers the instrument with loose, gestural trees and vegetation. The grain remains visible beneath the imagery.
The artwork is paired with Steingraeber’s 138 K-SFM concert upright, creating an instrument that is both highly functional and completely individual.
Resonanz
Steingraeber B-192 Salon Grand | Natural satin finish | Sumi ink
Resonanz takes the idea furthest.
The B-192 grand was hand-painted in Sumi ink across a combination of woods including abachi, beech, bird’s-eye maple, maple, spruce and whitewood.
Its creation also became a performance in its own right. Wagner worked on the grand piano in the tropical house of the Ecological-Botanical Garden at the University of Bayreuth, surrounded by dense vegetation and extraordinarily humid conditions. Eight cameras and a drone documented the nine-hour hand-painting process.
The finished instrument is covered in marks that move between trees, water, texture and abstraction, turning the entire piano — from its case to its legs — into part of the composition.
See the Crescendo piano in London
To experience this collaboration in person, visit us at Stand G30 at Decorex 2026, Olympia London. At 10.20am on Sunday 11 October, the show’s opening day, Antoine will make a special appearance alongside a live performance by Camden Stewart on Crescendo.
Following Decorex, Crescendo will also be available to view at the Markson Pianos showroom, where you can explore its laser-etched forest imagery and experience the instrument up close.
If you’re interested in purchasing any of the Wagner x Steingraeber pianos, you can fill out our enquiry form here, email info@marksonpianos.com, call 020 7935 8682, or visit our Regent’s Park showroom.
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