Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Reclining Nude in Front of Mirror, 1909-1910, oil on canvas, 83.3 x 95.5 cm (Brücke-Museum, Berlin)
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Reclining Nude in Front of Mirror, 1909-1910, oil on canvas, 83.3 x 95.5 cm (Brücke-Museum, Berlin)
Imagine a painting where the magentas scream, the greens glare, and coarse brushstrokes become more ominous the longer you look at them. Paintings like this, where the artist uses color, line, and visible techniques to evoke powerful responses from the viewer date from the early 20th century but continue expressive traditions that can be found throughout art’s history (see, for example, work by Francisco Goya). When capitalized as “Expressionism,” however, the term refers more specifically to an artistic tendency that became popular throughout Europe in the early 20th century. Like many categories in art history, Expressionism was not a name coined by artists themselves. It first emerged around 1910 as a way to classify art that shared common stylistic traits and seemed to emphasize emotional impact over descriptive accuracy. For this reason, artists like Edvard Munch straddle the line between Post-Impressionist developments in late 19th century painting and early 20th century Expressionism. Likewise, the Fauves in France exhibited similar characteristics in their work and are often linked to Expressionism.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Manifesto, 1906, woodcut, 28.8 x 22.2 cm, Künstlergruppe Brücke, Dresden
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Manifesto, 1906, woodcut, 28.8 x 22.2 cm, Künstlergruppe Brücke, Dresden
Expressionism in Germany
Though many artists of the early 20th century can accurately be called Expressionists, two groups that developed in Germany, Die Brücke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), are among the best known and help to define the style. Influenced in part by the spiritual interests of Romanticism and Symbolism, these artists moved further from the idealized figures and smooth surface of 19th century academic painting that can be seen in paintings by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, for example. Instead of depicting the visible exterior of their subjects, they sought to express profound emotional experience through their art. German Expressionists, like other European artists of the time, found inspiration in so-called “primitive” sources that included African art, as well as European medieval and folk art and others untrained in Western artistic traditions. For the Expressionists, these sources offered alternatives to established conventions of European art and suggested a more authentic creative impulse.
Die Brücke
In 1905, four young artists working in Dresden and Berlin, joined together, calling themselves Die Brücke (The Bridge). Led by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, the group wanted to create a radical art that could speak to modern audiences, which they characterized as young, vital, and urban. Drawn from the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th century German philosopher, the name “Die Brücke” describes their desire to serve as a bridge from the present to the future. While each artist had his own personal style, Die Brücke art is characterized by bright, often arbitrary colors and a “primitive” aesthetic, inspired by both African and European medieval art. Their work often addressed modern urban themes of alienation and anxiety, and sexually charged themes in their depictions of the female nude.
Erich Heckel, Fränzi Reclining, 1910, woodcut, 35.6 x 55.5 cm (The Museum of Modern Art)
Erich Heckel, Fränzi Reclining, 1910, woodcut, 35.6 x 55.5 cm (The Museum of Modern Art)
Their [first exhibition was held in the showroom of a lamp factory in Dresden in 1906 for which they published a program of woodcut prints reflecting their interest in earlier traditions of German art. In the introductory broadsheet (above left), Kirchner made clear the group’s revolutionary intentions. He proclaimed,
With faith in progress and in a new generation of creators and spectators we call together all youth. As youth, we carry the future and want to create for ourselves freedom of life and of movement against the long established older forces.[1]
This optimism was not long-lived. Internal squabbling caused the group to dissolve in 1913 just prior to the start of the First World War.
Vasily Kandinsky, Cover of Der Blaue Reiter Almanac, Piper Verlag, Munich, 1912
Vasily Kandinsky, Cover of Der Blaue Reiter Almanac, Piper Verlag, Munich, 1912
Der Blaue Reiter
Based in the German city of Munich, the group known as Der Blaue Reiter lasted only from their first exhibition at the Galerie Thannhausen in 1911 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Created as an alternative to Kandinsky’s previous group, the more conservative Neuen Künstlervereinigung München (New Artists Association of Munich or NKVM), Die Blaue Reiter took its name from the motif of a horse and rider, often used by founding member Vasily Kandinsky.
This motif appeared on the cover of the Blue Rider Almanac (left), published in May 1912, and reflects Kandinsky’s interest in medieval traditions and the folk art of his Russian homeland. In contrast to Die Brücke, whose subjects were physical and direct, Kandinsky and other Die Blaue Reiter artists explored the spiritual in their art, which often included symbolism and allusions to ethereal concerns. They thought these ideas could be communicated directly through formal elements of color and line, that, like music, could evoke an emotional response in the viewer. Conceived by Kandinsky and Franz Marc, the almanac included essays by themselves and other German and Russian artists, musical compositions by Expressionist composers, such as Arnold Schönberg, and Kandinsky’s experimental theater piece, “Der gelbe Klang” (The Yellow Sound). This range of content shows Der Blaue Reiter’s efforts to provide a philosophical approach not just for the visual arts, but for culture more broadly. These ideas would become more fully developed at the Bauhaus where Kandinsky taught after the war (Marc died during the Battle of Verdun in 1916).
Franz Marc, The Large Blue Horses, 1911, oil on canvas, 41.6 × 71.3 inches (Walker Art Center)
Franz Marc, The Large Blue Horses, 1911, oil on canvas, 41.6 × 71.3 inches (Walker Art Center)
Austrian Expressionism
While the Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter groups had relatively defined memberships, Expressionist artists also worked independently. In Vienna, Oskar Kokoschka and Egon Schiele stand out for paintings that show intense, often violent feeling and for their efforts to represent deeper psychological meaning.
Egon Schiele, Self-Portrait with Chinese Lantern Plant, 1912 (Leopold Museum, Vienna)
Egon Schiele, Self-Portrait with Chinese Lantern Plant, 1912 (Leopold Museum, Vienna)
In the aftermath of the First World War, many artists in Germany felt that the forceful emotional style of Expressionism that had been so progressive before the war but had become less appropriate. Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) arose as a direct response to pre-war stylistic excess.
- Translated excerpt from Charles Harrison and Paul Wood, Art in Theory, 1900-2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 1993, page 65
Additional resources:
Log in Karthik Karanth 5 years agoPosted 5 years ago. Direct link to Karthik Karanth's post “> In the aftermath of the...” > In the aftermath of the First World War, many artists in Germany felt that the forceful emotional style of Expressionism that had been so progressive before the war but had become less appropriate. This doesn't make sense. • (2 votes) David Alexander 5 years agoPosted 5 years ago. Direct link to David Alexander's post “In this context, "appropr...” In this context, "appropriate" means that the forceful emotional style of expressionism which was used by many artists in Germany before the war was no longer fitting for the context in which they lived and worked after the way. (3 votes) ellie duquaine 4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to ellie duquaine's post “In the first paragraph un...” In the first paragraph under the Der Blaue Reiter section, there was a line that uses Kandinsky's name twice, one labeling him as a part of the Die Brucke group and one calling him the "founding member" This is the line: What group is Kandinsky actually a part of? • (1 vote) David Alexander 4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to David Alexander's post “Artists can be like Prote...” Artists can be like Protestants, constantly dividing and re-dividing into different groups. In that paradigm, Kandinsky could have been the founder of one group, then split from it to be part of another group. It happens in church, why not in art? (2 votes)Want to join the conversation?
Also, what do you mean by "appropriate" in this context?
"Created as an alternative to Kandinsky’s previous group, the more conservative Neuen Künstlervereinigung München (New Artists Association of Munich or NKVM), Die Blaue Reiter took its name from the motif of a horse and rider, often used by founding member Vasily Kandinsky."
Thank you!
FAQs
What is the main idea of Expressionism in reaction from? ›
Expressionism in literature arose as a reaction against materialism, complacent bourgeois prosperity, rapid mechanization and urbanization, and the domination of the family within pre-World War I European society. It was the dominant literary movement in Germany during and immediately after World War I.
What is Expressionism summary? ›Expressionism, In the visual arts, artistic style in which the artist depicts not objective reality but the subjective emotions that objects or events arouse. This aim is accomplished through the distortion and exaggeration of shape and the vivid or violent application of colour.
What does the Blue Rider represent? ›Faced with a rapidly changing industrialised Germany, they yearned for a more spiritual alternative. The name and the symbol of the group was the 'Blue Rider'. The horse represented creative energy and the rider the artist who controls it, the colour blue symbolising the spiritual.
What was the objective of Expressionism what was it trying to portray? ›Rather than trying to accurately represent the world, as artists had been doing since the Renaissance, Expressionist artists sought to express their subjective inner emotions, fantasies, or thoughts independent from “reality”.
What are 3 characteristics of Expressionism? ›Extreme angles, flattened forms, garish colors, and distorted views distinguish Expressionism, an international movement in art, architecture, literature, and performance that flourished between 1905 and 1920, especially in Germany and Austria.
What was the impact of Expressionism? ›Expressionism provided artists with the tools they needed to speak up about social issues and along with their distorted images, helped evoke emotions and ideas within others.
What is the main characteristic of expressionism? ›What are the characteristics of Expressionism? Expressionist art tried to convey emotion and meaning rather than reality. Each artist had their own unique way of "expressing" their emotions in their art. In order to express emotion, the subjects are often distorted or exaggerated.
What is expressionism quizlet? ›expressionism. a style of painting, music, or drama in which the artist or writer seeks to express emotional experience rather than impressions of the external world.
What is expressionism art with explanation? ›Expressionism is an art type, style, and movement that emphasizes subjective feeling in its works. This contrasts with other painting styles of the late 19th century that put an emphasis on objectivity and realism. Expressionism art, therefore, was both a rejection and reaction of more realist styles.
What is the symbol of blue horse and why did he paint it? ›Blue Horses in symbolically bound to certain of the originating conceptions of the contemporaneous Blue rider group: in the symbol of the horse as a vehicle of breakthrough, in the emphasis on the spirituality of blue, and in the idea of spirituality battling materialism.
What did color represent to Kandinsky? ›
The theory of colors by Kandinsky claims that the colors are causing the human soul to vibrate and it is a powerful tool to influence human beings as physical organisms. He recalls even repeated attempts of utilizing the power of colors for treatment of various diseases of the human nerve system.
What does the name der blaue Reiter mean? ›Der Blaue Reiter was a German expressionist group originating in Munich in 1909. Wassily Kandinsky. Cossacks (1910–1) Tate. Der Blaue Reiter translates in English as The Blue Rider.
What was the most important thing in expressionism art? ›Expressionism was characterized by broad brush strokes, bright color pops and abstract styles. It aimed to express rather than depict physical reality.
What influence expressionism in art? ›Expressionism had a lasting influence on modern art and art history, with its style often attributed to art that distorts reality in order to achieve an intense and emotional scene using bright color and thick, heavy brushstrokes.
How did expressionism influence art? ›Expressionist artists often employed swirling, swaying, and exaggeratedly executed brushstrokes in the depiction of their subjects. These techniques were meant to convey the turgid emotional state of the artist reacting to the anxieties of the modern world.
What are the two types of expressionism? ›Within abstract expressionism were two broad groupings: the so-called action painters, who attacked their canvases with expressive brush strokes; and the colour field painters who filled their canvases with large areas of a single colour.
What are the three types of expressionism? ›Expressionism really took root in Germany, in Dresden, Munich and Berlin. Three separate groups emerged, which are collectively referred to by art historians as German Expressionism: Die Brucke (1905-13), Der Blaue Reiter (1909-14), and the post-war Die Neue Sachlichkeit (1920s).
What techniques was commonly used by the expressionism? ›Abstract Expressionists used several different techniques to make their art. Some artists poured and dripped paint, moving around the canvas in the act of painting. Other artists applied broad, heavy, brush strokes with thick brushes.
What is the background of expressionism? ›Expressionism originated from a group of artists in Germany during the late 1800s. They viewed the Industrial Revolution as alienating and dehumanizing. They also disliked 19th-century impressionism. A genre that focused on color and “pretty” works of art with no depth.
What is expressionism in simple words? ›Expressionism refers to art in which the image of reality is distorted in order to make it expressive of the artist's inner feelings or ideas. Wassily Kandinsky. Cossacks (1910–1)
What words describe expressionism? ›
- expressionistic.
- impressionist.
- impressionistic.
- symbolist.
- nonrepresentational.
- nonobjective.
- nonfigurative.
- abstract.
Expressionist painting includes works grouped with Surrealism, Symbolism, Futurism, Fauvism, Cubism, Vorticism, and Dadaism. In many ways, the movement was a reaction to Impressionism and post-Impressionism.
What is the main contribution of expressionism to modern art? ›The main contribution of expressionism to "modern art" was to popularize the idea of subjectivity in painting and sculpture, and to show that representational art may legitimately include subjective distortion.
Why did the boys hide the horse and why? ›They had to keep it away from the eyes of the people, particularly its owner. Mourad had found a deserted vineyard. He took the horse inside the house and tied it there. If caught, it could bring a bad name to the family, its integrity and honesty.
What did the White Horse symbolize? ›Some interpretations identify the four horsemen of the apocalypse's first horseman, the rider of the white horse, as Jesus Christ. Evidence for this claim includes the horse's colour (white as a representation of righteousness) and Christ's later appearance in the Book of Revelation atop a white horse.
What did the horse represent? ›The horse is a majestic animal that embodies the spiritual power of independence, freedom, nobleness, endurance, confidence, triumph, heroism and competition. Its symbol is associated with strength, courage and freedom.
What did Kandinsky hear when he saw red? ›Wassily Kandinsky, who pioneered abstract art in the early 20th century, had a rare trait called synaesthesia, which blurs the senses and allowed the Russian painter to associate colours with certain sounds and moods. Red, he heard as a violin; yellow, as a trumpet; and blue, the sound of a heavenly organ.
What did Kandinsky say about circles? ›He said, “The circle is the synthesis of the greatest oppositions. It combines the concentric and the eccentric in a single form and equilibrium.”
What did yellow mean to Kandinsky? ›For Kandinsky, yellow and blue are the core instances of “warm” and “cool” respectively.
What does Morgen mean name? ›Meaning:Circling sea; Great brightness. Morgen is a gender-neutral name and a variant of the Welsh and Old English name Morgan. Its fascinating meaning of "circling sea" or "great brightness" is guaranteed to give your little star the talent of persuasion.
What does the last name Volk mean? ›
Volk is a surname. It means wolf in several Slavic languages, and it refers to people in German. German Volk is the cognate of English folk and related to Fulk, French Foulques, Italian Fulco and Swedish Folke, along with other variants such as Fulke, Foulkes, Fulko, Folco and Folquet.
What does the last name Rietveld mean? ›Dutch: topographic name for someone living by a reedbed from riet 'reed' + veld 'uncultivated land'.
What is the main idea of Expressionism A in reaction from impressionism? ›The Term "Expressionism"
Whereas the Impressionists sought to express the majesty of nature and the human form through paint, the Expressionists, according to Matejcek, sought only to express inner life, often via the painting of harsh and realistic subject matter.
What are the characteristics of Expressionism? Expressionist art tried to convey emotion and meaning rather than reality. Each artist had their own unique way of "expressing" their emotions in their art. In order to express emotion, the subjects are often distorted or exaggerated.
What was German Expressionism a reaction to? ›The German Expressionists were artists, writers, and thinkers who were of age in Germany prior to World War II, and lived during Wilhelm II's reign. German Expressionism developed as a result of the younger generation's reaction against the bourgeois culture of Germany during this time period.
What is the emotion of Expressionism? ›What is Expressionism? The expressionist art movement focuses on projecting an emotional response within the viewer. Rather than focusing on the reality of a scene, the artist uses colour, shape, brush strokes and other artistic tools to arouse a specific response in anyone who may be objectifying the work.
What is Expressionism quizlet? ›expressionism. a style of painting, music, or drama in which the artist or writer seeks to express emotional experience rather than impressions of the external world.
What are the different forms of expressionism? ›Expressionist painting includes works grouped with Surrealism, Symbolism, Futurism, Fauvism, Cubism, Vorticism, and Dadaism. In many ways, the movement was a reaction to Impressionism and post-Impressionism.
What are the main themes of German Expressionism? ›These include a fascination with the enticing yet often sordid experiences of modern urban life; the enduring solace associated with nature and religion; the naked body and its potential to signify primal emotion; emotionally charged portraiture; and, most pivotally, the need to confront the devastating experience of ...
What was German Expressionism rebelling against? ›German Expressionism can be difficult to define, as it existed as a cultural movement that sought to rebel against traditional bourgeois art that commanded culture and aesthetics within Germany.
What did German Expressionism focus on? ›
German Expressionism was an art movement that emerged in the early 20th century and was characterized by a focus on emotion and ideas as inspiration. The basis of the movement came in stark contrast with other movements that preceded it, which focused on more accurate depictions of reality and nature.
What words describe Expressionism? ›- expressionistic.
- impressionist.
- impressionistic.
- symbolist.
- nonrepresentational.
- nonobjective.
- nonfigurative.
- abstract.
Expressionism is an art style that relies on emotional impact rather than the reality of things. Instead of merely depicting the outside world in a visual form, expressionists aim to seek what lies within. Expressionist art, in essence, portrays the human psyche.
Why do people like Expressionism? ›An artist's desire to create comes from their emotions, both positive and negative. However, Expressionist artists bring those emotions into their depictions, elevating their emotional interpretations over any sense of trying to convey the objective “truth” of their subjects.