Expressionism
- Expressionism is basically an expression of the inner values of an artist.
- It developed in Germany and Austria, perhaps because German speaking countries have always used painting in an extremely expressive way. Unlike the Italian Renaissance artists, German painters were not interested in portraying an idealised painless Christ, instead favouring a more expressive outlook. These images bared a completely different vision of the world to the rest of Europe. The tendency of using painting to express inner feelings has always been present.
- In 1905, artists in Dresden rebelled against the Academy. The avant-garde movement was called Die Brücke [The Bridge]. Their aim was to "bridge" the past to the present.
- Dresden 1905-11 -- Then moved to Berlin where it continued between 1911-13.
- The artists of Die Brücke loved wood-cuts, due to the rough results; they used the contrasts in a very expressive way.
- Kirchner was one of the most famous artists of Die Brücke, and was intensely interested in using unnatural, acidic colours.
- Munch used the expressive medium to express a certain kind of uneasiness. The Scream pretty much sums up Expressionism.
- Kirchner was the most important artist of this movement, he developed technique that was a mixture of Munch, Van Gogh and Picasso. He distorted his subjects into angular representations of reality. He distorted his images to express internal values, the link with reality is not completely abandoned.
- Heckel and Pechstein use similar composition and unnatural colours. The use of stark lines is inspired by the wood-cut designs.
- The Expressionist artists resurrected the wood-cut technique. The 16th century was the great age of wood carving. After that, wood-cut as a medium pretty much disappeared, until it was resurrected by these artists. They were also inspired by African Masks, they saw them as spiritual, unmediated, powerful and full of expression.
- Gauguin and Munch started to use wood-cutting in an innovative way. Using it as if they were sculpting with a rough chisel.
- Painting, Distortion and Suffering is the aesthetic of this movement.
- The Der Sturm [The Tempest] was the most famous journal of the time. This was when Die Brücke moved from Dresden to Berlin.
- In Munich, another movement was set up - Der Blaue Reiter - The Blue Rider. This movement was very spiritual and tried to represent spiritual values.
- Vasily Kandinsky was very spiritual, but not spiritual in the traditional sense, he was interested in an esoteric spiritual movement called Theosophy - Tried to go beyond traditional religions, and tried to find a common denominator. "There is no religion higher than truth." Because of this search for the higher truth, Kandinsky thought painting had a responsibility to express this search. Some of his painting are of Medieval tales, but step-by-step he starts to call his paintings Compositions to evoke music. Music is the most obvious spiritual art, as it can evoke many feelings - Joy, Sadness, Peace, Torment, Excitement etc. can all be expressed through music - Kandinsky tried to do the same through colour rather than sounds.
- Composition 7 was the first to completely abandon any reference to nature, apart from colours and natural forms. This was the first completely modern painting. The subjects are not even recognisable forms, just colours on canvas, presented in a very musical way. In order to express existential values he achieves abstraction.
- Another famous artist from this movement was Franz Marc. He mainly pained animals, his approach to their forms are the same. He believed that the animal world held the real truth, whereas the human world was corrupt. Paintings such as The Fate of the Animals would have been impossible without the Cubists and Impressionists.
- In Vienna, you have Kokoschka Expressionist-style portraits. He represented and displayed the personality of the sitter. He was also famous for the posters of these Expressionistic exhibitions, as well as for theatre productions. He used elongated figures and thick black lines, again inspired by wood-cuts and stained glass windows. Without artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec and the graphic design of the late 19th century, these images would be inconceivable.
- Egon Schiele distorted new, but traditional subjects - portraits and human bodies. He is especially famous for his drawings, watercolours, and depicting distorted, elongated bodies.
- This kind of distortion of the human figure, gloomy subjects, contrasts between black and white, etc. was then exported to other media such as movies. The beginning of the gothic and horror genre in film developed from the expressive paintings of the time.
- It developed in Germany and Austria, perhaps because German speaking countries have always used painting in an extremely expressive way. Unlike the Italian Renaissance artists, German painters were not interested in portraying an idealised painless Christ, instead favouring a more expressive outlook. These images bared a completely different vision of the world to the rest of Europe. The tendency of using painting to express inner feelings has always been present.
- In 1905, artists in Dresden rebelled against the Academy. The avant-garde movement was called Die Brücke [The Bridge]. Their aim was to "bridge" the past to the present.
- Dresden 1905-11 -- Then moved to Berlin where it continued between 1911-13.
- The artists of Die Brücke loved wood-cuts, due to the rough results; they used the contrasts in a very expressive way.
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| Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Poster, 1910 |
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| Kirchner, Street, Dresden, 1908, MoMa, NYC |
- Kirchner was one of the most famous artists of Die Brücke, and was intensely interested in using unnatural, acidic colours.
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| Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893, National Gallery, Oslo |
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| Edvard Munch, Anxiety, Munch Museum, Oslo |
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| Munch, The Dance of Life, 1899-1900, Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo |
- Munch used the expressive medium to express a certain kind of uneasiness. The Scream pretty much sums up Expressionism.
 |
| Kirchner, Four Wooden Sculptures, 1913, Dallas Museum of Art, USA |
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| Kirchner, Five Women in the Street, 1913, Museum Ludwig, Cologne |
- Kirchner was the most important artist of this movement, he developed technique that was a mixture of Munch, Van Gogh and Picasso. He distorted his subjects into angular representations of reality. He distorted his images to express internal values, the link with reality is not completely abandoned.
 |
| Erich Heckel, A Crystal Day, 1913, Berlin |
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| Max Pechstein, Nude, 1910, Berlin |
- Heckel and Pechstein use similar composition and unnatural colours. The use of stark lines is inspired by the wood-cut designs.
 |
| Erich Heckel, Portrait of a Man, 1919 |
 |
| Karl Schmidt Rottluff, Mother, 1910 |
- The Expressionist artists resurrected the wood-cut technique. The 16th century was the great age of wood carving. After that, wood-cut as a medium pretty much disappeared, until it was resurrected by these artists. They were also inspired by African Masks, they saw them as spiritual, unmediated, powerful and full of expression.
 |
| Gauguin, Oviri, 1894 |
 |
| Munch, Woman by the Shore, 1898 |
- Gauguin and Munch started to use wood-cutting in an innovative way. Using it as if they were sculpting with a rough chisel.
- Painting, Distortion and Suffering is the aesthetic of this movement.
 |
| Herwarth Walden, Der Sturm, Berlin |
- The Der Sturm [The Tempest] was the most famous journal of the time. This was when Die Brücke moved from Dresden to Berlin.
 |
| Der Blaue Reiter [The Blue Rider], 1910-14, Munich |
- In Munich, another movement was set up - Der Blaue Reiter - The Blue Rider. This movement was very spiritual and tried to represent spiritual values.
 |
| Vasily Kandinsky, Blue Mountain, 1908-09, Guggenheim, NYC |
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| Kandinsky, Sketch for Composition II, 1910, Guggenheim, NYC |
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| Kandinsky, Composition 4, 1911, Dusseldorf |
- Vasily Kandinsky was very spiritual, but not spiritual in the traditional sense, he was interested in an esoteric spiritual movement called Theosophy - Tried to go beyond traditional religions, and tried to find a common denominator. "There is no religion higher than truth." Because of this search for the higher truth, Kandinsky thought painting had a responsibility to express this search. Some of his painting are of Medieval tales, but step-by-step he starts to call his paintings Compositions to evoke music. Music is the most obvious spiritual art, as it can evoke many feelings - Joy, Sadness, Peace, Torment, Excitement etc. can all be expressed through music - Kandinsky tried to do the same through colour rather than sounds.
 |
| Kandinsky, Composition 7, 1913, Moscow |
- Composition 7 was the first to completely abandon any reference to nature, apart from colours and natural forms. This was the first completely modern painting. The subjects are not even recognisable forms, just colours on canvas, presented in a very musical way. In order to express existential values he achieves abstraction.
 |
| Franz Marc, The Large Blue Horses, 1911, Minneapolis, USA |
 |
| Franz Marc, The Fate of the Animals, 1913, Basel, Switzerland |
- Another famous artist from this movement was Franz Marc. He mainly pained animals, his approach to their forms are the same. He believed that the animal world held the real truth, whereas the human world was corrupt. Paintings such as The Fate of the Animals would have been impossible without the Cubists and Impressionists.
 |
| Oskar Kokoschka, Portrait of Karl Moll, 1912, Belvdere, Vienna |
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| Oskar Kokoschska, Poster for the 1908 Kunstschau exhibition, Vienna |
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| Oskar Kokoschka, Poster for the play 'Murderer, the Hope of Women', 1908 |
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| Oskar Kokoschka, Sketch for the play 'Murderer, the Hope of Women', 1908 |
- In Vienna, you have Kokoschka Expressionist-style portraits. He represented and displayed the personality of the sitter. He was also famous for the posters of these Expressionistic exhibitions, as well as for theatre productions. He used elongated figures and thick black lines, again inspired by wood-cuts and stained glass windows. Without artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec and the graphic design of the late 19th century, these images would be inconceivable.
 |
| Egon Schiele, Self-Portrait, 1910 |
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| Schiele, Sitting Woman with her Legs Drawn Up, 1917, Prague |
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| Schiele, The Embrace, 1917, Belvedere, Vienna |
- Egon Schiele distorted new, but traditional subjects - portraits and human bodies. He is especially famous for his drawings, watercolours, and depicting distorted, elongated bodies.
- This kind of distortion of the human figure, gloomy subjects, contrasts between black and white, etc. was then exported to other media such as movies. The beginning of the gothic and horror genre in film developed from the expressive paintings of the time.
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