Expressionism
The year 1905 marked a turning point when four German artists formed Die Brücke in Dresden. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner led this group, though they did not use the word Expressionism themselves. Their work drew heavily from earlier figures like Edvard Munch and Vincent van Gogh. Philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche also shaped their thinking through works like Thus Spoke Zarathustra published between 1883 and 1892. Swedish dramatist August Strindberg wrote plays including To Damascus which ran from 1898 to 1901. These early influences rejected realism for emotional intensity. The movement developed before World War I as an avant-garde style. It remained popular during the Weimar Republic particularly in Berlin. Many precursors were not German despite the movement's later association with Germany.
In 1911 a second group called Der Blaue Reiter formed in Munich. Wassily Kandinsky named it after his painting Der Blaue Reiter created in 1903. Members included Franz Marc Paul Klee and August Macke. This group existed together for only one year until 1912. Die Brücke lasted longer than its rival but both groups shared similar goals. They reacted against French Impressionism which emphasized visual appearance over emotion. Expressionists sought to portray subjective interpretations using powerful colors and dynamic compositions. Kandinsky believed simple colors could help spectators perceive moods and feelings. Their work was influenced by African art sources alongside Munch and Van Gogh. The term Expressionism did not firmly establish itself until 1913. Most of these artists worked primarily in painting though they also explored poetry and theatre.
Expressionist painters distorted reality through radical changes to color and form. They aimed to evoke moods rather than depict physical objects accurately. Critics described their approach as rejecting objective reality for subjective emotions. The style developed mainly in Germany between 1910 and 1930. Artists used arbitrary colors and jarring compositions to create emotional impact. They felt aesthetic pleasure mattered less than vivid emotional reactions. Some works appeared nightmarish due to increased dissonance in music or distortion in paintings. Baroque critics noted that Expressionism threw terrific fuck yous while Baroque remained well-mannered. The movement overlapped with Futurism Cubism Surrealism and Dadaism making definition difficult. One central means of identification involved distancing from realism and dominant conventions. Many early expressionists came from Jewish backgrounds within the School of Paris group.
German cinema produced notable examples like Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari released in 1920. Paul Wegener created The Golem: How He Came into the World also in 1920. Fritz Lang directed Metropolis which arrived in 1927. F.W. Murnau made Nosferatu a Symphony of Horror in 1922 plus The Last Laugh in 1924. These films featured distorted set designs chiaroscuro lighting stylized acting and superimposition techniques. Director Leopold Jessner became famous for stark steeply raked flights of stairs borrowed from Edward Gordon Craig. Lighting effects created stark contrast emphasizing emotion throughout productions. Oskar Kokoschka wrote Murderer The Hope of Women as an expressionist drama in 1909. Georg Kaiser and Ernst Toller were the most famous playwrights during this period. Eugene O'Neill adapted these ideas in American plays including The Hairy Ape and The Emperor Jones. Directors often blocked actors in two-dimensional movement to avoid illusion of reality.
Alfred Döblin published Berlin Alexanderplatz in 1929 showing clear expressionist influence. Franz Kafka wrote The Trial in 1925 and The Castle in 1926 while others labeled him expressionist. Journals like Der Sturm started by Herwarth Walden in 1910 published poetry and prose. Die Aktion appeared first in 1911 edited by Franz Pfemfert. Contributors included Peter Altenberg Max Brod Richard Dehmel and many others. Some writers used episodic structures known as Stationendramen modeled on Jesus' Stations of the Cross. Strindberg pioneered this form with his trilogy To Damascus. Plays dramatized spiritual awakening suffering against bourgeois values personified by Father figures. Speech could be expansive rhapsodic or clipped telegraphic depending on the work. Writers such as James Joyce explored similar themes in Ulysses sections like Nighttown published in 1922. Patrick White and Thomas Pynchon also produced works considered part of this tradition later.
The term expressionism applied to music probably for the first time in 1918 focusing on Arnold Schoenberg. Members of the Second Viennese School included Anton Webern and Alban Berg alongside Schoenberg himself. They avoided traditional forms of beauty to convey powerful feelings through dissonance. Theodor Adorno described fear lying at the center of expressionist music where harmonious elements were banished. Schoenberg created Erwartung and Die Glückliche Hand while Berg composed Wozzeck an opera based on Georg Büchner's play. Bela Bartók wrote Bluebeard's Castle in 1911 plus The Wooden Prince in 1917 and The Miraculous Mandarin in 1919. Richard Wagner Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss served as important precursors. Dissonance predominated creating nightmarish atmospheres aurally much like visual distortion did visually. These composers sought to depict unconscious fears through dramatic increases in musical tension.
Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany during the 1930s causing Expressionism to decline there. The Munich exhibition Entartete Kunst occurred in 1937 marking a drastic shift in American reception. Expressionist works began increasingly acquired by American museums after this event. New York City received many European artists at the beginning of World War II in late 1939. German émigré Mathias Goeritz published Arquitectura Emocional manifesto in Mexico in 1953 declaring architecture's principal function was emotion. Luis Barragán adopted these principles collaborating on Torres de Satélite project between 1957 and 1958. Only during the 1970s did Expressionist architecture receive more positive re-evaluation globally. Many Jewish expressionists faced persecution following pogroms which influenced their dramatic tragic art styles. The movement's decline coincided with authoritarian regimes hostile to freedom worldwide.
After World War II figurative expressionism influenced artists and styles around the world. Norris Embry studied with Oskar Kokoschka in 1947 producing work over the next 43 years termed first American German Expressionist. Boston Expressionists included Karl Zerbe Hyman Bloom Jack Levine and David Aronson who persisted despite marginalization. Abstract Expressionism centered in New York City developed alongside figurative traditions. Bay Area Figurative Movement emerged from San Francisco area artists like Elmer Bischoff Richard Diebenkorn and David Park between 1950 and 1965. Neo-expressionism began as an international revival style in late 1970s and 1980s. Lyrical Abstraction appeared in United States and Canada starting late 1960s and 1970s featuring Dan Christensen Peter Young Ronnie Landfield among others. Sōsaku-hanga woodblock print movement flourished early 20th century Japan through Kanae Yamamoto and Kōshirō Onchi. These global developments ensured Expressionism remained integral to modern art history across multiple continents.
Common questions
When did the Expressionism art movement begin and who founded Die Brücke?
The year 1905 marked a turning point when four German artists formed Die Brücke in Dresden. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner led this group though they did not use the word Expressionism themselves.
What years did the Der Blaue Reiter group exist and what was their main goal?
This group existed together for only one year until 1912 after forming in Munich in 1911. They reacted against French Impressionism which emphasized visual appearance over emotion to portray subjective interpretations using powerful colors and dynamic compositions.
Which films were released between 1920 and 1927 that exemplify Expressionist cinema?
German cinema produced notable examples like Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari released in 1920 and Fritz Lang directed Metropolis which arrived in 1927. Paul Wegener created The Golem: How He Came into the World also in 1920 while F.W. Murnau made Nosferatu a Symphony of Horror in 1922 plus The Last Laugh in 1924.
Who composed music classified as Expressionist and when was the term first applied to music?
The term expressionism applied to music probably for the first time in 1918 focusing on Arnold Schoenberg. Members of the Second Viennese School included Anton Webern and Alban Berg alongside Schoenberg himself who avoided traditional forms of beauty to convey powerful feelings through dissonance.
When did Adolf Hitler rise to power and how did it affect the Expressionism movement in Germany?
Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany during the 1930s causing Expressionism to decline there. The Munich exhibition Entartete Kunst occurred in 1937 marking a drastic shift in American reception where Expressionist works began increasingly acquired by American museums after this event.