Expressionism
Expressing the inner self above all else
Expressionism was primarily a German art movement that spanned painting, woodcuts, print-making, theatre, film and literature. Their artworks placed emphasis on the self, exploring the artist’s inner feelings and emotions. This was given greater importance than expressing any kind of objective reality, as their paintings typically tended towards abstraction – with brilliant use of colour, flattened perspective and expressive brushstrokes.
Their work was produced in response to what they saw as the stifling conventions and conservatism of western culture. It was a movement of young bohemian artists painting what they saw – with their work often containing nudity and raw sexuality. They placed importance on evoking strong emotional reactions from people who viewed their art.
Expressionism was first formed by a group of artists in Dresden in 1905 known as Die Brücke (The Bridge). Key members included Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. The group’s name was symbolic – they saw themselves as a bridge into the future, freeing themselves of the constraints of tradition. Printmaking and drawing were used extensively by the group, with some of the woodcuts clearly showing the influence of African and Asian tribal art. This was part of a larger movement of the time, as artists such as Picasso were inspired by seeing these exotic objects in ethnographic museums.
The other key group of Expressionists, known as Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) were formed in Munich in 1911 by a collection of artists including Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, and Gabriele Münter. The Blue Rider was a recurring motif in Russian artist Kandinsky’s paintings, whilst horses were also a frequent theme in Marc’s work (he saw horses as a symbol of rebirth). They attached special spiritual significance to colour, in particular blue. This can perhaps be attributed to Kandinsky having synaesthesia – the ability to see music. Many of his works were abstract compositions based on musical scores.
Both of these groups lost their cohesion with the advent of World War One, with a number being killed in the war. Alongside these German Expressionists were notable Austrian artists Oskar Kokoschka and Egon Schiele who painted deeply personal and distressing self-portraits.
With the isolation of the great war, Germany banned foreign films which led to tremendous growth in German cinema, with Expressionists at the forefront. They employed elaborate set designs and costumes, along with exaggerated dramatic lighting. After the war their films gained much attention beyond Germany, with two famous examples being The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) by Robert Wiene and Metropolis (1927) by Fritz Lang. They were very influential on Hollywood at the time, whilst the modern works of Tim Burton clearly show their influence.
A separate, but related group of Expressionists known as Die Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) emerged in the 1920s in Germany. Led by Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, and George Grosz their work turned a dark and satirical eye on the corruption and inequities of the Weimar Republic in post-war Germany. With the Nazi’s ascension in 1933, modern art in Germany and Austria was widely condemned for not upholding ‘German values’, with an exhibition titled Degenerate Art being held in 1937 deriding modern art, Expressionist works amongst them. Artists were censored and persecuted alongside many other groups at this time, with many choosing exile and Kirchner committing suicide.