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Expressionism
Expressionism was a cultural movement originating in Germany at the start of the 20th-century as a reaction to positivism and other artistic movements such as naturalism and impressionism. It sought to express the meaning of “being alive” and emotional experience rather than physical reality. It is the tendency of an artist to distort reality for an emotional effect, it is a subjective art form.
Expressionism is exhibited in many art forms, including: painting, literature, theatre, film, architecture and music. The term often implies emotional angst. In a general sense, painters such as Matthias Grunewald and El Greco can be called expressionist, though in practice, the term is applied mainly to 20th century works.
Although it is used as a term of reference, there has never been a distinct movement that called itself “expressionism”, apart from the use of the term by Herwarth Walden in his polemic magazine Der Sturm in 1912. The term is usually linked to paintings and graphic work in Germany at the turn of the century which challenged the academic traditions, particularly through the Die Brucke and Der Blaue Reiter groups. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche played a key role in originating modern expressionism by clarifying and serving as a conduit for previously neglected currents in ancient art.
In The Birth of Tragedy Nietzsche presented his theory of the ancient dualism between two types of aesthetic experience, namely the Apollonian and the Dionysian, a dualism between the plastic “art of sculpture”, of lyrical dream-inspiration, identity (the principium individuationis), order, regularity, and calm repose, and, on the other hand, the non-plastic “art of music”, of intoxication, forgetfulness, chaos, and the ecstatic dissolution of identity in the collective. The analogy with the world of the Greek gods typifies the relationship between these extremes: two godsons, incompatible and yet inseparable. According to Nietzsche, both elements are present in any work of art. The basic characteristics of expressionism are Dionysian: bold colours, distorted forms-in-dissolution, two-dimensional, without perspective.
More generally the term refers to art that expresses intense emotion. It is arguable that all artists are expressive but there is a long line of art production in which heavy emphasis is placed on communication through emotion. Such art often occurs during time of social upheaval, and through the tradition of graphic art there is a powerful and moving record of chaos in Europe from the 15th century on the Protestant Reformation, Peasants’ War, Eight Years’ War, Spanish Occupation of the Netherlands, the rape, pillage and disaster associated with countless periods of chaos and oppression are presented in the documents of the printmaker. Often the work is unimpressive aesthetically, but almost without exception has the capacity to move the viewer to strong emotions with the drama and often horror of the scenes depicted.
The term was also coined by Czech art historian Antonin Matejcek in 1910 as the opposite of impressionism: “An Expressionist wishes, above all, to express himself….(An Expressionist rejects) immediate perception and builds on more complex psychic structures…. Impressions and mental images that pass through mental peoples soul as through a filter which rids them of all substantial accretions to produce their clear essence […and] are assimilated and condense into more general forms, into types, which he transcribes through simple short-hand formulae and symbols.” (Gordon, 1987)
The movement primarily originated in Germany and Austria. There were a number of Expressionist groups in painting, including the Blaue Reiter and Die Brucke. The Der Blaue Reiter group was based in Munich and Die Brucke was based originally in Dresden (although some later moved to Berlin). Die Brucke was active for a longer period than Der Blaue Reiter which was only truly together for a year (1912). The Expressionists had many influences, among them Munch, Vincent van Gogh, and African art. They also came to know the work being done by the Fauves in Paris.
Influenced by the Fauves, Expressionism worked with arbitrary colors as well as jarring compositions. In reaction and opposition to French impressionism which focused on rendering the sheer visual appearance of objects, Expressionist artists sought to capture emotions and subjective interpretations: It was not important to reproduce an aesthetically pleasing impression of the artistic subject matter, the Expressonists focused on capturing vivid emotional reactions through powerful colors and dynamic compositions instead. The leader of Der Blaue Reiter, Kandinsky, would take this a step further. He believed that with simple colors and shapes the spectator could perceive the moods and feelings in the paintings, therefore he made the move to abstraction.
Expressionist imagery exploded into modern art from the subconscious. Its diverse formal means and emotional effects range from anguish to exuberance. As the powerful, personal creations of modern individuals, these images have little in common except their inventive power and their reliance upon a distinctly private vision.
In late 1939, at the beginning of World War II, New York welcomed a great number of leading European artists.
The heritage of their interest in the mythic realm of the unconscious would be continued-and extended-by another group of younger, New World artists-New York School.
American Expressionism and American Figurative Expressionism particularly the Boston figurative expressionism were an integral part of American modernism around the Second World War.
Major figurative Boston expressionists included: Karl Zerbe, Hyman Bloom, Jack Levine, David Aronson, Philip Guston. The Boston figurative expressionists post World War II were increasingly marginalized by the development of abstract expressionism centered in New York City.
Later in the 20th century, after World War II, figurative expressionism influenced worldwide a large number of artists and movements. Thomas B. Hess, wrote:
“the ‘New figurative painting’ which some have been expecting as a reaction against Abstract Expressionism was implicit in it at the start, and is one of its most lineal continuities.”
Read moreShowing 901–1000 of 1692 results
Maisons au bord de mer 1918
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Night Feast
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00Portrait of Vava
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $339.00The Black Dress 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $359.00La cathédrale de Chartres, 1933
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $369.00North German City
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $259.00Quarrel
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $299.00The Italian woman 1917
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $359.00House near Paris 1918
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $309.00Omega 5 (Traps)
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00Rebecca à la Fontaine
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $329.00The Pretty Housewife 1915
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $469.00One Who Understands
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00Promenade auprès du village
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $269.00Rêve D’amour
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00The Student 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $329.00Landscape with Figure (Paysage avec figure)
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Outstretched
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $379.00Scène Champêtre
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Young Man with Cap 1919
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $369.00Owl Comedy
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $309.00Paysage 1939 1
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Rain
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $329.00Young woman (Totote De La Gaîté) 1917
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $329.00Landscape with character
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $319.00P Fourteen
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $339.00Rencontre
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $329.00Young woman in Yellow 1917
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $359.00L’arbre de Vence
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $259.00Palaces
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $319.00Portrait of young Girl in Blue Blouse 1910
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $349.00The Blue Circus
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00L’arbre de Vence 1
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Park Of Idols
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $319.00Ritratto Di Hanka Zborowska 1917
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $339.00The Blue Village (Second Version)
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $299.00Landscape with trees in the wind 1919
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Parkbild Bei Regen
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00The Burgundian woman 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $399.00The Cemetery Gates 1917
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00landscape near Cagnes 1923
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $289.00Le coq rouge au bord de l’eau
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Parklandschaft
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $389.00The Beautiful Spaniard – Lady Modot 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $359.00Landscape, Chemin des Caucours, Cagnes-sur-Mer 1924
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Parts Of A Landscape Assembled
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00The Eiffel Tower
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Woman in a Sailor Shirt 1916
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $359.00Italian
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $299.00Landscape in Céret 1920
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Perspektive Figuration
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $279.00Scène de Village à L’animal Bleu
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00A Man 1916
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $299.00Le Soleil Et La Vague
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Por
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $289.00Révolution
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Landscape, Céret 1919
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $369.00Pierre-Edouard Baranowski 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $329.00Portrait Of A Violet-Eyed Woman)
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $269.00Roi David à Jérusalem
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $359.00Beatrice Hastings Assise 1915
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $349.00La Perdrix et Les Coqs
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $299.00Paysage avec des Personnages
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $269.00Portrait Of A Yellow Man
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $319.00A grande árvore 1942
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $289.00Fillette à La Chevelure 1915
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $319.00Portrait Of Mrs. P. In The South
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00The lion and the rat
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Gypsy woman with Baby 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $329.00Le Cheval et L’âne
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $299.00Paysage tormenté
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Possibilities At Sea
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $259.00Fables de la Fontaine
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Gourdon sur Vence 1922
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Head of a woman (Anna Zborowska)
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $339.00Pretender
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00L’aigle, la Laie et la Chatte
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00La Femme Blonde 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $319.00Protectress
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $319.00The Road up the Hill 1924
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Jean Alexandre 1909
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $319.00Revolving House
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00Suburban Landscape with Red Houses
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $269.00The Grey House 1917
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $299.00Fallen Tree
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $319.00Jeune Homme Assis, Les Mains Croisées Sur Les Genoux 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $359.00Rhythmically
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00The Poet Reclining
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $269.00Asiatic God
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $349.00La Fantesca 1915
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $409.00Paysage 1
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $319.00The Flying Carriage
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Flayed Beef 1926
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $309.00Le Violoncelliste 1909
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $369.00Rocks At Night
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $319.00The Rainbow
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $269.00Blossoms In The Night
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $309.00Carcass of Beef
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Léon Bakst 1917
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $369.00The Soldier Drinks
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00