EXPRESSIONISM

In the early twentieth century, industrialized society ushered in a new era — an era of factories, capitalism, Marxism, communism and world war. Artists responded by creating a new style; Expressionism affected all the arts, including the newly developing art form of film.

OBJECTIVES

• Discuss the origins of Expressionism.

• Describe and define Fauvism.

• Identify the works of German Expressionists.

• Characterize the work of the sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck.

VOCABULARY

ORIGINS OF EXPRESSIONISM

The early twentieth century was a time of upheaval in three important areas: physical science, human psychology, and economics.

• In 1905 the renowned physicist Albert Einstein published his paper on "The Special Theory of Relativity." Einstein's theory questioned the very foundations of previous thought. He asserted that matter is actually a form of energy rather than a solid reality. His conclusions eventually led to the development of the atom bomb.

• In another scientific area, that of psychology, Sigmund Freud was developing theories of the human mind. One of his most important ideas was that of the unconscious mind. In each of us, he said, are repressed memories, buried in our unconscious that may make us behave in ways we do not understand. He believed that keys to the unconscious could be found in our dreams.

• In economics, the ideas of Karl Marx, who wrote The Communist Manifesto in the 1800s, were gaining ground. Marx believed that economic revolution was inevitable. He championed the worker over the rich industrialist and looked forward to a more equitable society. In 1917, the Bolsheviks under Lenin staged the Russian Revolution, in hopes of creating the society Marx envisioned.

"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto(1848).

These events and many others caused artists to delve within themselves to find sources of inspiration. They strove to use art instead of the surrounding reality to express their inner emotions. This movement, called Expressionism, could be found in many different art forms in many countries. In France, Fauvists such as Matisse created a wild form of painting with unusual color juxtapositions. In Germany, the German Expressionists followed Edvard Munch's lead and distorted figures to depict emotion. And in America, the artist Alice Neel painted Expressionistic portraits throughout most of the twentieth century.

These various expressions were part of a larger movement we call Modernism.

FAUVISM

The term fauves means "wild beasts." In 1905 a group of artists exhibiting their work in Paris were influenced by Paul Gauguin's exotic, brightly colored depictions of native life and van Gogh's violent colors and swirls. They took these ideas further, using colors in wild and exuberant new ways to express emotionalism. Their style was so wild that one critic called them "wild beasts," and the name stuck. This wildness is what made them modern.

The Fauvists can be characterized by:

• vigorous lines

• simplified yet dramatic surface patterns

• vivid colors

• distortion of shapes

• sunny imagery

Henri Matisse 

His paintings are joyful, and we can see in them a sense of play in terms of color and design. Notice the rhythmic design in the painting.

Look at the following pictures and record them in your art journal. Notice how Matisse's color selections and juxtapositions create a comforting warmth. The intense colors are greatly contrasted.

• Dance

• The Dessert

GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM

Expressionism as an art movement began in Germany about 1905 and lasted until after the First World War. Expressionist artists tried to present an emotional experience in its most compelling form. The artists were not concerned with reality as it appeared on the surface. They were more interested in its inner nature and with the emotions aroused by the subject.

Their work can be identified by the use of any of the following:

• caricature

• exaggeration

• distortion

The Bridge (Die Brücke) 

Emil Nolde (1867-1956) 

A later member of The Bridge, Emil Nolde (1867-1956) also made significant contributions to German Expressionism.

Nolde's work can be characterized by

• masklike heads

• contorted brushwork

• raw, bold colors

In the woodcut below, you can see that the human face is presented as a grotesque mask of harsh emotionality.

• The Prophet

Visit the Brücke Museum to learn more about Emil Nolde:

Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) 

The Bridge was not the only game in town. Another group called Der Blaue Reiter or Blue Rider included Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Paul Klee and others. The name of the group comes from the title of one of Kadinsky's paintings (linked above). 

• Kandinsky (1866-1944) was a Russian-born painter who moved to Munich in 1896. He was one of the first Expressionists to experiment with complete abstraction. In other words, in his later work he did not attempt to depict clearly identifiable figures at all. Kandinsky believed that art could not only express emotion, but that it could express spirituality as well. For Kandinsky, blue was the most spiritual of all colors.

• Franz Marc was a German painter who also developed principles based on colors. His formula for colors included the following:
  
  

  • Blue-considered a spiritual color and male

  • Yellow-considered sensual and female

  • Red-considered heavy and brutal

Disillusioned with the human race, Marc used animals as the subject for his paintings because he believed they were more pure.

This section would not be complete without a look at the work of the Swiss painter Paul Klee who often incorporated numbers and letters in his art.

Go to this website and read the text about Klee.

EXPRESSIONIST SCULPTURE

German Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881-1919) is "considered one of the greatest German sculptors of the 20th century and a particularly effective exponent of expressionism." Lehmbruck, who traveled in Italy and spent four years in Paris, created work that can be characterized by the following:

• Gothic elongation

• angular, nude figures

• dignified expression

• sense of despair

"One of these, regarded by many critics as his masterpiece, is Kneeling Woman (1911), which, like many of his works, is in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. It features remarkable vertical-horizontal contrasts and the sculptor's typical distortion through elongation."

Kneeling Woman 

"His sensitively modelled works in artificial stone or bronze are imbued with a languor and a spirituality, and in his Kneeling Woman there is lyrical tenderness and elongation of form but never sentimentality or melodrama" Philip James. 

LET'S REVIEW!

In this lesson, you have covered the following concepts:

• Expressionism was a major twentieth-century art movement

• The Fauvists in France used wild colors in unusual ways to express emotion

• The German Expressionists developed two schools: The Bridge and The Blue Rider. They used color, distortion and primitive lines to express emotion and spirituality

Take the following quiz before moving on.