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expressionism
Pronunciation: /ɪkˈsprɛʃ(ə)nɪz(ə)m, ɛk-/
Definition of expressionism
noun
- Expressionists characteristically reject traditional ideas of beauty or harmony and use distortion, exaggeration, and other non-naturalistic devices in order to express emotional states. The paintings of El Greco and Grünewald exemplify expressionism in this broad sense, but the term is also used of a late 19th and 20th century European and specifically German movement tracing its origins to Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, and James Ensor, which insisted on the primacy of the artist’s feelings and mood, often incorporating violence and the grotesque
(from the Oxford dictionaries)
Definition
What is Expressionism?
• Need to “Express” powerful emotion
• Focus on “Angst” and Individual Anguish
• Importance of Color in Painting
The beginnings
'Insolent mockery of the Divine under centrist rule’
Slogan from the entartete Kunst exhibit, Munich 1937
German Expressionism began as a reaction to the conditions of Wilhelminian Germany; a rejection of the pre-war German bourgeois culture as chronicled in the likes of Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain. Young intellectuals felt excluded and classless in a complacent, materialistic Germany.
(source)
Expressionist Art
What is Expressionist Art? - Characteristics
Expressionism is an intensely personal art form. The expressionist artist strives to convey his personal feelings about the object painted, rather than merely record his observation of it. Thus, in order to achieve maximum impact on the viewer, representational accuracy is sacrificed (distorted) in favour of (eg) strong outlines and bold colours. Compositions tend to be simpler and more direct, and are often characterized by thick impasto paint, loose, freely applied brushstrokes, and occasional symbolism. The message is all-important.
E L Kirchner Street Scene - MoMA interactive
Click on this image to see an interactive analysis of several 'Street Scenes' art by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
An art historian's definition
(Blumen by Emil Nolde)
Art historian Norbert Lynton helped define German Expressionism with this description, "All human action is expressive; a gesture is an intentionally expressive action. All art is expressive - of its author and of the situation in which he works - but some art is intended to move us through visual gestures that transmit, and perhaps give release to, emotions and emotionally charged messages. Such art is expressionist."
Expressionist Technique
Expressionist Technique
• Expressionist Truth was subjective
• New artistic means were needed in order to express these new perspectives and bring audiences beyond the surface
Distorted line
Exaggerated shape
Printmaking
The Movement
The Expressionist movement was largely inspired by Nietzsche's philosophy of art, which held that the artistic impulse inspired a wondrous vitality - a reawakening of the senses - in the artist himself. In other words, the artist breathes in the basic gestures of creation, which are then expressed in his work. Developed during a period of history that saw Germany undergo severe social, political, and economic dislocation following the country's defeat in World War I.
