Expressionism

Early 20th Century

 Questions
What was the Expressionists’ aims and •
philosophies about what art should achieve?
What kinds of subjects and themes were re- •
occurring in this movement of art?
What kinds of methods and techniques were •
used in Expressionist work?
What are 3 elements and 3 principles that are •
obvious in the Expressionist work?
What visual tools did the Expressionists use to •
convey meaning?
 Expressionisms
A DEFINITION •

artistic style in which the artist seeks to depict not objective reality •
but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and
events arouse within a person. The artist accomplishes this aim
through distortion, exaggeration, primitivism, and fantasy and
through the vivid, jarring, violent, or dynamic application of formal
elements. In a broader sense Expressionism is one of the main
currents of art in the later 19th and the 20th centuries, and its
qualities of highly subjective, personal, spontaneous self-expression
are typical of a wide range of modern artists and art movements.
Expressionism can also be seen as a permanent tendency in Germanic
and Nordic art from at least the European Middle Ages, particularly in
times of social change or spiritual crisis, and in this sense it forms the
converse of the rationalist and classicizing tendencies of Italy and
later of France

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 Origins and philosophy
Surfaced first in Europe (particularly Paris •
and Germany)
Stresses the Artists’ emotional attitude •
about self and the world.
Primary concern is the Human •
Community.
Between 1901 and 06 Comprehensive •
exhibitions of Van Gogh, Gaugin and
Cezanne kicked off a more public
exposure to heightened self expression
and colour in painting.
Encompassess sub-movements such as •
the French Expressionists,The Fauves(wild
beasts) and German Expressionist Groups
Die Brucke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue
Reiter (The Blue Rider)

Images – Top – Still life with Onions, Cezanne. Bottom – The •

Yellow Christ, Gaugin.
th
Ref – History of Art, 5 Edition, Janson & Janson, •
Often Considered to be a very German focussed •
movement. Had the longest life span here. Was evidence
of an enthusiasm for French modern art at the time.
1905 to 1920 marks the most obvious apperance and •
influence of the Expressionist Style.
“An expression of a certain awareness of life among the •
younger generation, whose common bond was no more
that their rejection of dominant and political structures.”
A Utopian Opposite of a society contolled by industry and •
conservative politics.
Heavily influence by war. Was seen as a destruction of the •
ancient order in early stages of WW1, then morphing into
a critisicism of the horrors that war created as is dragged
on.

Reference – Expressionism, Dietmar Elger. •

 Edvard Munch
Almost a precorsor to Expressionism along with •
artists such as Klimt, Ensor and Redon
Munch was chiefly concerned with his own existential •
drama: 'My art', he declared, 'is rooted in a single
reflection: why am I not as others are? Why was there
a curse on my cradle? Why did I come into the world
without any choice?', adding 'My art gives meaning to
my life'. Thus he considered his entire work as a
single entity: The Frieze of Life. The frieze was
manifestly an expression of anxiety (for example,
in The Scream) but also of tender pathos: of the
'dance of life'.
 The Scream, 1893

Madonna, 1902

I was walking along the road with two

friends. The sun set. I felt a tinge of
melancholy. Suddenly the sky became a
bloody red.
I stopped, leaned against the railing,
dead tired, and I looked at the flaming
clouds that hung like blood and a sword
over the blue-black fjord of the city.
My friends walked on. I stood there,
trembling with fright. And I felt a loud,
unending scream piercing nature.
The Dance of Life, 1899
 The Fauves
Artists influenced by Gauguin, Van Gogh, and •
Cezanne
Works first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1905 •
Van Gogh—”Instead of trying to render what I •
see before me, I use color in a completely
arbitrary way to express myself powerfully”
Color as an emotional force. •
Artists who participated included Matisse, •
Roualt, Derain, Dufy, Braque.
 Henri Matisse Student of Moreau •
Started out as a lawyer •
(1869-1954) Influenced by post-imps •
and Japanese art
Friend and rival of •
Picasso

The Red Room, 1908

The Green Stripe, 1905

André Derain
(1880-1954)
 Die Brucke, 1905
Founders were Fitz Bleyl, Ersnt Ludwig •
Kirchner, Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt
Rutloff in Dresden.
Also included Emil Nolde, Max •
Pechstein and Otto Mueller.
Favourite themes were man in the •
natural environment, nudes, reflecting
ideas of the unspoilt facets of life.
Characteristics show influence of layers •
of impressionist thick painterly
brushtrokes, but later found adding
thinners to paint let them work quicker,
with broad and smoother brush or
palette knife strokes.
Contrast and tension between •
complementary colours.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Heckel & Schmidt-Rottluff

Erich Heckel Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

 Der Blaue Reiter
Modefenster, Macke, 1913
Seen as opposed to Die Brucke group. •
Munich based, and as more individual •
artists.
Included Wassily Kandinsky and Franz •
Marc as major players who published
Almanacs for the group.
Also included the artists Gabriel •
Munter, August Macke, Heinrich
Campendonk, Paul Klee and Delaunay.
Aims to integrate impressions of the •
outside world and also the inner world.
Illustrations in the almanac were aimed •
to be as confrontational and
enlightening as possible.
 Vasily Kandinsky’s use of the horse- •
and-rider motif symbolized his
crusade against conventional
aesthetic values and his dream of a
better, more spiritual future
through the transformative powers
of art. The rider is featured in many
woodcuts, temperas, and oils, from
its first appearance in the artist’s
folk-inspired paintings, executed in
his native Russia at the turn of the
century, to his abstracted
landscapes made in Munich during
the early 1910s. The horseman was
also incorporated into the cover
designs for Kandinsky’s theoretical
manifesto of 1911, On the Spiritual
in Art, and the contemporaneous
Blue Rider Almanac, which he
coedited with Franz Marc.

Blue Mountain, 1908

 Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)
Russian-born •
Worked in Munich •
Formed Der Blaue Reiter with Franz •
Marc
Published a book with articles by •
other Expressionist artists and
musicians
Working toward pure abstraction •
Pieces have musical relationships •
Father of “pure abstraction” •
Works are spiritual and based in •
myth/folk tales
Kandinsky—”Color is the keyboard, •
the eyes are the harmonies, the soul
is the piano with many strings. The
artist is the hand that plays,
touching one key or another, to
cause vibrations in the soul.

Painting with White Border, 1913

 Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons), 1913

Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle), 1913

On White II, 1923

 Franz Marc
(1880-1916)
Born in Munich, Germany •
“I am trying to intensify my feeling for the •
organic rhythm of all things, to achieve
pantheistic empathy with the throbbing and
flowing of nature's bloodstream in trees, in
animals, in the air.”
Turned to nature for spiritual redemption •
“People with their lack of piety, especially men, •
never touched my true feelings. But animals with
their virginal sense of life awakened all that was
good in me.”
Killed by shell fragments in 1916 during WWI •
 Colour as Emotion
“Blue is the male principle, astringent and •
spiritual. Yellow is the female principle, gentle,
gay and spiritual. Red is matter, brutal and
heavy and always the color to be opposed and
overcome by the other two.”
“Black is like the silence of the body after •
death, the close of life.”
Colors very symbolic •
 Paul Klee
Swiss-born •
Also interested in the spiritual in art •
Interested in children’s art and primitive art •
“Do not laugh, reader! Children also have artistic ability, and •
there is wisdom in their having it! The more helpless they are,
the more instructive are the examples they furnish us ....”
desire to paint “as though newborn, knowing absolutely •
nothing about Europe”
Believed art, music, and writing were the same •
Grew up in a musical family, played the violin •
Experimental materials •
Way to the
Citadel
1937
 Arrival of the Jugglers, 1926, oil on cardboard
Tree Nursery, 1929

Picture Album, 1937, oil on canvas

 Pain and suffering
“ …Actually I'm not revolutionary but rather •
evolutionary. Since I am an artist associated
with the working class and revolution and feel
myself being pushed more and more into this
position, I am afraid not to continue to act in
this role…. But I am now in my fifties, I've lived
through the war and have seen Peter and
thousands of other young men die. I am
horrified and deeply shocked by all the hatred
that exists in our world. I long for a Socialism
that lets people live."

Kathe Kollwitz (1867-1945)

Survivors Mothers, 1922

Otto Dix

Stormtroops Advancing Under Gas', etching •

and aquatint by Otto Dix, 1924
 Oskar Kokoschka
Bride of the Wind,
Using the elements and
principles to create
meaning...........
Paul Klee’s way to the citadel uses a number of
art elements and principles.
•

One of the most noticable is shape. We can see •

the painting is broken up into a number of
geometric shapes with strong outlines. Given
that the painting seems to be a pathway to a
location, we could say the shape in this painting
helps to emulate the birds eye view of a town.
The crystalized form of the shapes working
together look like rooftops.
Another element that is used is colour. This again •
reminds us of a city, with the terracotta type
colour perhaps being used to refer to roof tiles.
Repetition is an obvious principle being used. We •
see similar shapes being use over and over again
to create a sense of the city being built up, and
creating a space that feels crowded and busy.
 Homework
Find two Expressionist artworks from different •
artists.
Write a paragraph for 3 different elements •
and/or principles you think contribute to
meaning in the work.
Put into a word document and hand in by •
Friday.