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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 601–700 of 1692 results
Curtain
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $389.00Dilewski 1916
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $349.00Le Christ En Croix
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $369.00Paysage De Cagnes 1925
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $309.00Woman On A Divan 1914
By August MackeSizes starting at $239.00Deep Pathos
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $289.00Elena Povolozky 1917
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $319.00In Der Tempelhalle
By August MackeSizes starting at $299.00Le paradis
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00View of Cagnes
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Cathedral At Freiburg
By August MackeSizes starting at $289.00Demonic Puppets
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $259.00Elvira Resting at a Table 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $359.00Landscape at Cagnes 1923
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Le Bouquet Vert et L’oiseau Dans le Ciel Du Village
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Der Luftballon
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $249.00Kairuan III
By August MackeSizes starting at $279.00Le Mouton
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Maisons aux toits pointus
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Woman with Blue Eyes 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $349.00Cat
By August MackeSizes starting at $289.00Die Schlange Auf Der Leiter
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $329.00Landscape with House and Tree (Paysage avec maison et arbre)
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Le Paradis
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Young Girl in a Striped Shirt 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $359.00Carpet Of Flowers, 1913
By August MackeSizes starting at $279.00Doctor
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00La Jeune Bonne 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $519.00Le Peintre au Chevalet à Saint-Paul
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $329.00Paysage du Midi
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Colourful Bunch Of Flowers In Front Of A Window
By August MackeSizes starting at $289.00Dünenfriedhof
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $319.00Le Peintre Dans la Lumière Du Soleil
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $339.00Portrait of Mme Zborowska 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $339.00View of Céret 1921
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00A Woman
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $319.00Chemin de la Fontaine des Tins at Céret 1920
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $249.00E Mural From The Temple Of Longing Thither
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00Gartenrestaurant (Garden Restaurant)
By August MackeSizes starting at $289.00Le Peintre et la Crucifixion
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $359.00Adrienne (Woman with Bangs) 1917
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $339.00Early Spring In H.
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00Le Traîneau
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Les Platanes à Céret 1920
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Algerian woman 1917
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $379.00Enclosure For Pachyderms
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $479.00La place de la Liberté à Céret 1919
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $289.00Le village bleu
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Anna Zborowska 1917
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $369.00Episode Before An Arab Town
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00Landscape at Céret [Paysage à Céret] 1922
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $259.00Le Soir
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Falling Bird
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $269.00Fillette En Bleu 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $369.00Le Soleil Couchant
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00The plane trees of the Place de la Liberté 1922
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $259.00Feier Und Untergang
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $319.00Flower Vendor 1919
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $369.00Le Songe
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00The plane trees of the Place de la Liberté in Céret 1922
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $259.00Figure Le Soir
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $319.00Gaston Modot 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $399.00Group of Trees (Groupe d’arbres) 1922
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Le Village Bleu
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $289.00Figurine Die Alte
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $289.00Girl in a Sailor’s Blouse 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $339.00Le Violiniste à la Chèvre
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $379.00Steeple of Saint-Pierre at Céret 1922
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Figurine- Small Fire Devil
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $299.00Girl in a White Blouse 1915
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $339.00Hill at Céret 1921
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $289.00Le Rabbin au citron
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Flat Landscape
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $309.00Girl in Black Apron 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $359.00L’escalier rouge à Cagnes
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Lebenslinien
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $439.00Florentine Villas
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $289.00Girl with Blue Eyes 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $319.00Rue à Cagnes 1924
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $269.00Solitude
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $369.00Four Sailships
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $539.00Girl with Pigtails 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $319.00Le Violoniste
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00View Overlooking Céret 1922
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $259.00Fruits On Red – Handkarchief Of The Violinist
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $259.00Green Violinist
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $409.00Head of a young Girl
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $319.00Le Viaduc Rouge Près de Vence 1919
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Fruits On Red – Handkarchief Of The Violinist
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $289.00Homme Assis Sur Fond Orange 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $359.00Jew with Torah
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $319.00Townscape with Cypress Trees, South of France
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $289.00Full Moon Within Walls
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $269.00Paysage
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $299.00Portrait of a Student 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $329.00The Praying Jew
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00Garden In St. Germain, The European Quarter Near Tunis
By Paul KleeSizes starting at $279.00Paysage à la route montante 1922
By Chaïm SoutineSizes starting at $279.00Portrait De Baranowski 1918
By Amedeo ModiglianiSizes starting at $439.00Red Jew
By Marc Chagall (Inspired by)Sizes starting at $309.00