- Choose your Country
- Choose your Country
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 1201–1300 of 1692 results
Fleurs et Poisson 1919
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $289.00Winter Journey
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00Daphnis and Chloe- Lamon’s and Dryas’s Dreams
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Flowers on a Chair
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Yellow Harbor
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $319.00Daphnis and Chloe- Daphnis Discovers Chloe
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00La jug aux roses 1915
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $269.00Young Blue-Moon
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $329.00Daphnis and Chloe- Lamon Discovers Daphnis
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Still LIfe with Red Cabbage (Nature morte au chou rouge) 1918
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Daphnis and Chloe- the Dead Dolphin and the Three Hundred Drachmas
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Still life with lemons and artichoke 1916
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $269.00Daphnis and Chloe- the Wine Harvest
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Still life with fruit, coffeepot and a oillamp 1938
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $269.00Bouquet of Flowers (Bouquet de fleurs) 1918
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Daphnis and Chloe–Noon, In Summer
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Bouquet of flowers in a pot on an armchair 1915
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Daphnis and Chloe-Philetas’s Lesson
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Daphnis and Gnathon
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Yellow flowers and fruits 1915
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $269.00Daphnis and Lycenion
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Nature morte à la coupe de fruits et aux trois bouteilles 1916
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Daphnis et Chloe- la Saison D’été
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Still life with pipe and cucumber 1916
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Daphnis’s Dream and the Nymphs
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Still life with soup tureen and leek 1916
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Der Esel Über Dem Dorf
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $339.00Nature morte à la lampe 1916
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Femme avec coupe de fruits
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $349.00Jeune femme couchée dans l’herbe (Le trèfle à quatre feuilles) 1939
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $399.00L’Enfant
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $459.00The Procession
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Four Tales From the Arabian Nights
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Portrait of a Woman
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $339.00Four Tales From the Arabian Nights- “So I Came Forth of the Sea…”
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00La femme à l’ombrelle
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $269.00L’écolier bleu
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $339.00Le Baiser de Chloé
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Chloé Is Dressed and Braided By Cleariste
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Tête de jeune fille
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $289.00Dorcon’s Strategy
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Femme en Rouge Appuyée à un Fauteuil 1919
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $319.00Daphnis and Chloé Beside the Fountain
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Figure
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Farm Girl [La Fille de Ferme] 1919
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $409.00The Circus
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Le Cirque
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Le petite patissier 1927
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Mère et enfant
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $319.00Salomon Sur Son Trône
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00La femme au grand chapeau 1919
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $339.00Sirène au pin
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $329.00He went up to the couch and found the young lady asleep…
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $329.00Seated Woman
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Nude
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $329.00The Circus
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Disrobing Her With His Own Hand…
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Le Levoir 1940
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $319.00La montée de Cagnes
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $339.00Sacrifices Made to the Nymphs
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00L’acrobate à cheval
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $329.00L’Allée d’arbres 1935
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $259.00Chloé’s Judgment
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $359.00Les grands prés à Chartres, au viaduc 1934
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $319.00Banlieue parisienne 1919
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $269.00Death of Dorcon
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $359.00Arbres à Auxerre 1939
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Megacles Recognizes His Daughter at the Feast
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $359.00Landscape in Cagnes (La Gaude, France), ca. 1923
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Soleil Dans le Ciel de Saint-Paul
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $369.00A Traveler on the Road
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $269.00Étude Pour Les Boulevards
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $339.00Femme de Cirque
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Winterscape
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $289.00L’artiste au Cirque
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $329.00Path in the Forest with Two Children
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $289.00Autour Des Études Pour “Derrière le Miroir”
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Céret, paysage aux cypres 1922
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $289.00La Génisse, la Chèvre et la Brebis En Société Avec le Lion
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $299.00Windy Day, Auxerre 1939
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $329.00Les amoureux
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $339.00Montmartre, 1919
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $319.00Casot à Céret 1921
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $319.00La Mort de Saül
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $329.00Les Deux Grands Visages Vert et Bleu au Cirque
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Pigs 1940
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $289.00Le Cirque, Un Cheval Cabré
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $399.00Le Clown au Cirque
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $299.00L’artiste Peignant Les Amoureux
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00L’artiste Sur Les Toits
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00L’atelier
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Les Amoureux En Bleu
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Le Coq Jaune
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $339.00Le Coq Sur Fond Noir
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $299.00Le Coq, Peintre Sur Les Toits
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $299.00Le Grand Coq, Fond Bleu
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Clown et acrobate
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $329.00Les trois acrobates
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Le Carrousel Du Louvre, Étude
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Le bouquet d’amour
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00