Expressionism
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas.[1][2] Expressionist artists have sought to express the meaning[3] of emotional experience rather than physical reality.[3][4]
Not to be confused with Abstract Expressionism or Expressivism.Years active
The years before WWI and the interwar years
Predominantly Germany
Artists loosely categorized within such groups as Die Brücke, Der Blaue Reiter; the Berlin Secession, the School of Paris and the Dresden Secession
American Figurative Expressionism, generally, and Boston Expressionism, in particular
Expressionism developed as an avant-garde style before the First World War. It remained popular during the Weimar Republic,[1] particularly in Berlin. The style extended to a wide range of the arts, including expressionist architecture, painting, literature, theatre, dance, film and music.[5] Paris became a gathering place for a group of Expressionist artists, many of Jewish origin, dubbed the School of Paris. After World War II, figurative expressionism influenced artists and styles around the world.
The term is sometimes suggestive of angst. In a historical sense, much older painters such as Matthias Grünewald and El Greco are sometimes termed expressionist, though the term is applied mainly to 20th-century works. The Expressionist emphasis on individual and subjective perspective has been characterized as a reaction to positivism and other artistic styles such as Naturalism and Impressionism.[6]
Some of the style's main visual artists of the early 20th century were:
August Macke, Lady in a Green Jacket, 1913
Franz Marc, Fighting Forms, 1914
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Nollendorfplatz, 1912
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Self-Portrait as a Soldier, 1915
