Post on 11-Jan-2016
EXPRESSIONISM
AVI 4M1
Some review:
Modernism had 4 key characteristics:
#1: Shock of the New
#2: Abstraction is essential
#3: Cult of the Genius
#4: Honesty of Materials
There were 3 basic approaches to abstraction:
Intellectual Abstraction, as seen in Cubism
1
There were 3 basic approaches to abstraction:
Emotional Abstraction, as seen in Expressionism
2
There were 3 basic approaches to abstraction:
Psychological Abstraction, as seen in Surrealism
3
Today, we’re looking at this one:
Emotional Abstraction, as seen in Expressionism
2
Post Impressionists Van Gogh and Gauguin…influenced “Expressionism”
Expressionism took on many forms, but there were 3 common characteristics:
1. Personal expression of the artist is the most
important thing;
2. Vivid, exaggerated colours;
3. Distortion of shapes to communicate
emotional states.
Some early Expressionists include Edvard
Munch:
Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893
… and pre-Cubist Pablo Picasso:
Pablo Picasso, The Old Guitarist, 1903
4 Early Expressionist movements:
#1 The Fauves, 1905
Means: “Wild Beasts” - originally an insult.
Vlaminck, Self Portrait
French Expressionists
“I paint with my HEART and my
LOINS, not bothering about
style!”-Vlaminck
Influenced by Gauguin!
The Fauves: Henri Matisse Henri Matisse, The Dance, 1909
The Fauves: Henri Matisse Henri Matisse, The Green Line, 1905
Matisse was interested in using colour to achieve a ‘new truth’; pictorial harmony;beauty!
The Fauves: Henri Matisse Henri Matisse, The Red Turban, 1907
Matisse was not interested in expression through “the violent gesture”.
The Fauves: Henri Matisse Henri Matisse, Panel with Mask, 1947
Matisse’s late work were large-scale collages of cut-out coloured paper.
The Fauves: George Rouault George Rouault, The Clown, 1907
Rouault’s work was often overtly religious, exploring Man’s inhumanity to Man.
Early Expressionist movement #2:
Der Brucke, 1905
Means: “The Bridge” in German.
“Oooo – look at me! I’m all
PRIMiTIVE and NAKED! How uncivilized!”
Der Brucke: Ernst Kirchner Kirchner, Self Portrait as a Soldier, 1915
Kirchner’s group sought to escape the chains of civilization by making “primitive” art in order to be more fully human.
Der Brucke: Ernst Kirchner Kirchner, Eigendruck
They did rough woodcuts, influenced by old German prints, Oceanic art and Gauguin.
Der Brucke: Ernst Kirchner Kirchner, Self Portrait with Model, 1910
Their art tried to express artistic struggle and social isolation…
… by using shocking colour, shocking distortion & shocking subjects
Early Expressionist movement #3:
Der Blaue Reiter, 1910Means: “The Blue Rider” in German.
“Woo Hoo! I am so
playful and spiritual! I’m
a yellow cow!
Franz Marc, The Yellow Cow
Der Blaue Reiter : Kandinsky Vassily Kandinsky, Composition 7
“Form itself is meaningless unless it is the expression of an artist’s inner necessity
and everything is permitted to serve this end.” - Kandinsky
Der Blaue Reiter : Kandinsky Vassily Kandinsky, Painting with Three Spots
Kandinsky searched for a common spiritual basis of all the arts…
… music, visual art, poetry and religion.
Der Blaue Reiter : Kandinsky Vassily Kandinsky, Composition 8
Kandinsky’s later, graphic style
Der Blaue Reiter : Franz Marc Franz Marc, The Fate of the Animals, 1913
Marc foreshadowed W.W.1;
and died in the war shortly thereafter.
Der Blaue Reiter : Paul Klee Paul Klee, The Twittering Machine, 1922
Klee approached art with the playfulness of a child, experimenting with mixed media and automatic drawing.
Der Blaue Reiter : Paul Klee Paul Klee, Ad Parnassum, 1932
Early Expressionist movement #4: New Objectivity, 1916
Shocked by the suffering caused by W.W.1; German artists; vicious often satirical art focusing on the ills of society.
Otto Dix, Three Card Players
“Whoa! Are we ever angsty and intense! Is that your best poker
face?
New Objectivity : Otto Dix Otto Dix, Dr. Mayer-Hermann, 1926
Dix did exaggerated, unflattering portraits of various types of people from German society.
New Objectivity : Otto Dix Otto Dix, Portrait of Dancer Anita Berber, 1925
Dix did exaggerated, unflattering portraits of various types of people from German society.
New Objectivity : Otto Dix Otto Dix, Skull: The War, 1924
Dix was a shell-shocked veteran of WW1 and made brutal depictions of the horrors of war.
New Objectivity : Max Beckmann Max Beckmann, The Night, 1919
Beckmann illustrated the chaos and violence of post-war Germany.
Grunewald, The Eisenheim Altarpiece, 1512-1516
Many German Expressionists continued the tortured German Renaissance tradition.
Otto Dix, War Triptych, 1929 - 1932Many German Expressionists continued the tortured German Renaissance tradition.
New Objectivity : George Grosz George Grosz, Toads of Property, 1921
Grosz mocked the powerful and showed distain for the wealthy.
New Objectivity : George Grosz George Grosz, Fit for Active Service, 1917
Grosz mocked the powerful and showed distain for the wealthy.
New Objectivity : Kate Kollwitz Kollwitz, The Mothers and the War, 1919
Kollwitz was a master printmaker.
Her work shows sympathy for the underprivileged, particularly women and children.
New Objectivity : Kate Kollwitz Kollwitz, The Peasant War, 1921
German Expressionism was almost extinguished with the rise of Fascism and the election of the Nazi party in the 1930s.Their work was labeled “degenerate” by the Nazis and put on display in mocking traveling shows.
Many Expressionist artists left Germany (Beckmann, Grosz),
were silenced (Kollwitz) or were
killed.
Francis Bacon, Head Surrounded by Sides of Beef
The influence of Expressionism was wide-spread and is still a very popular style of art-making today.
Expressionism:Key Dates:Key Artists:Henri Matisse
Ernst Kirchner
Paul Klee
Vassily Kandinsky
Otto Dix
1905 – present
Kate Kollwitz
Expressionism:Influenced by:
- Van Gogh and Gauguin: distortion of realism to express personal, emotional and spiritual states
Expressionism:Characteristics:1. Personal expression of the artist is the most important thing;
2. Vivid, exaggerated colours;
3. Distortion of shapes to communicate emotional states.
Fin.