Expressionism Expressionism is an art movement that produced a wealth of wonderful works of art, and the lives of the artists who created them were no less colorful and exciting. The word "expressionism" can be used to describe art from different times and places, most of them were part of a movement that took place in Germany from 1905 to 1920. They shared some of the beliefs. Those beliefs were that art should try to change society, to make it less conservative. It should express the energy of nature—following in the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh—-and personal feeling rather than simply representing nature. It should feel "uncomfortable", which means it should challenge the traditional ways of looking at the world. This differed from the opinion of Henri Matisse who believed that art should be "comfortable". Expressionist art should be inspired by folk art, and the art of what were then called "primitive" people, for example from Africa.
The aim of the Expressionists was to express personal feeling about what they were painting rather than representing it exactly as it was. It should have strong colors and shapes, be relatively direct, untutored and unplanned and should still contain recognizable things, but not be realistic. The lines could be distorted, and the colors could be strengthened or changed as in the art movement that began in 1905 called Fauvism.
Expressionism was more than a style in painting. It could be found in theatre and cinema, literature and architecture. It was a sharing of ideas and experiences across all these media. The life stories of the Expressionist artists show just how much they had in common. Many began by studying applied art, such as furniture design, often to please their parents. Although they later made more personal art, they continued to make use of those technical skills. Both art critics and the public received this new movement with derision and outrage. Expressionist artists were trying to shock by challenging the traditional, conservative views held by many people. Gradually, however, it became accepted and even admired.
All the Expressionists were affected by World War I (1914-18). Some fled from Germany and spent the war years in exile. Some never returned to their homeland. Most served in the war and some were killed. At first some of them hoped a war would change society for the better but they were soon disillusioned when they saw the destruction and suffering that it caused. In the years after the war, many Expressionist artist revealed the horrors they experienced in their work.
After World War I, Expressionism became very fashionable in Germany, where art was allowed to flourish. This freedom ended in 1933 when Hitler declared all Expressionists were "degenerate". This led to them being sacked from their jobs or forced to leave Germany. In 1937 the Nazis took thousands of art works from German museums and put them in an enormous exhibition called the Degenerate Art Exhibition, to show how bad and decadent this art was. It presented a view of the world that went against their political and cultural ambitions to rid Germany of all inferior races.
Practice 5
Expressionism was more than a style in painting. It could be found in theatre and cinema, literature and architecture. It was a sharing of ideas and experiences across all these media. The life stories of the Expressionist artists show just how much they had in common. Many began by studying applied art, such as furniture design, often to please their parents. Although they later made more personal art, they continued to make use of those technical skills. Both art critics and the public received this new movement with derision and outrage. Expressionist artists were trying to shock by challenging the traditional, conservative views held by many people. Gradually, however, it became accepted and even admired.
All the Expressionists were affected by World War I (1914-18). Some fled from Germany and spent the war years in exile. Some never returned to their homeland. Most served in the war and some were killed. At first some of them hoped a war would change society for the better but they were soon disillusioned when they saw the destruction and suffering that it caused. In the years after the war, many Expressionist artist revealed the horrors they experienced in their work.
Practice 1
Expressionism Expressionism is an art movement that produced a wealth of wonderful works of art, and the lives of the artists who created them were no less colorful and exciting. The word “expressionism” can be used to describe art from different times and places, most of them were part of a movement that took place in Germany from 1905 to 1920. They shared some of the beliefs. Those beliefs were that art should try to change society, to make it less conservative. It should express the energy of nature—following in the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh—-and personal feeling rather than simply representing nature. It should feel “uncomfortable”, which means it should challenge the traditional ways of looking at the world. This differed from the opinion of Henri Matisse who believed that art should be “comfortable”. Expressionist art should be inspired by folk art, and the art of what were then called “primitive” people, for example from Africa.
The aim of the Expressionists was to express personal feeling about what they were painting rather than representing it exactly as it was. It should have strong colors and shapes, be relatively direct, untutored and unplanned and should still contain recognizable things, but not be realistic. The lines could be distorted, and the colors could be strengthened or changed as in the art movement that began in 1905 called Fauvism.
Expressionism was more than a style in painting. It could be found in theatre and cinema, literature and architecture. It was a sharing of ideas and experiences across all these media. The life stories of the Expressionist artists show just how much they had in common. Many began by studying applied art, such as furniture design, often to please their parents. Although they later made more personal art, they continued to make use of those technical skills. Both art critics and the public received this new movement with derision and outrage. Expressionist artists were trying to shock by challenging the traditional, conservative views held by many people. Gradually, however, it became accepted and even admired.
All the Expressionists were affected by World War I (1914-18). Some fled from Germany and spent the war years in exile. Some never returned to their homeland. Most served in the war and some were killed. At first some of them hoped a war would change society for the better but they were soon disillusioned when they saw the destruction and suffering that it caused. In the years after the war, many Expressionist artist revealed the horrors they experienced in their work.
After World War I, Expressionism became very fashionable in Germany, where art was allowed to flourish. This freedom ended in 1933 when Hitler declared all Expressionists were “degenerate”. This led to them being sacked from their jobs or forced to leave Germany. In 1937 the Nazis took thousands of art works from German museums and put them in an enormous exhibition called the Degenerate Art Exhibition, to show how bad and decadent this art was. It presented a view of the world that went against their political and cultural ambitions to rid Germany of all inferior races.
Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism was the name for an artistic movement that emerged in the USA during the 1950s. It was also known as the New York School since most of the important artists lived there, at least for a time. During World War II many influential artists had fled the fighting and persecution of Europe and ended up in New York. The Abstract Expressionist group were made up of artists who had either come from Europe or who were directly influenced by the styles and techniques of those who had.
Abstract Expressionism is a term used for art that uses elements of Expressionism in an abstract way. They were also influenced by Surrealism. Expressionist artists used symbols and particular" styles of painting to express feelings or emotions. Surrealists tried to express the subconscious by using through the actual process of painting. The physical property of paint (what it was like) was what was important. The style and the subject (what the painting was of) had lost all significance.
The recognition of the Abstract Expressionists by the art world meant that for the first time the USA became known as an important force in avant-garde art. The term avant-garde is often used in art, and is used to describe anything radically new or different. The Abstract Expressionists fitted this description perfectly. For the first time it was the physical act of painting that was important rather than the end product.
The New York School was not, in the strictest sense, an artistic movement. The Abstract Expressionists included artists who had each developed their own individual styles. But there were enough similarities in the way they thought about and approached painting that gradually the group became known as the Abstract Expressionists.
Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner and Franz Kline all became recognized for a technique called "action painting". This was where spontaneous physical movement and gestures were used to produce paintings. The term "action painting" was originally used by the art critic Harold Rosenberg. He was referring to Jackson Pollock, who became famous for his "drip" paintings. Pollock used a revolutionary new technique, which involved dripping, pouring or squirting the paint from syringes directly onto the canvases. We now use the term "action painting" in a wider sense to refer to any technique of making a painting with energetic and spontaneous application of paint.
Other artists who also fall under the title of Abstract Expressionists include Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Clyfford Still. These artists invented a softer, calmer technique where paint is applied with brushes in large areas, or "fields", of color covers the whole picture surface. This technique became known as "color field" painting.
Both the "action" and "color field" painters shared methods and ideals. Paint is applied in bold, simple brushstrokes, dribbles or splashes, with blocks of color to make the maximum visual impact. The huge physical size of the paintings matched the artists’ grand philosophical ideas.
Abstract Expressionists all shared a philosophy about painting. Paintings were a search for "truth", or the hidden meaning of life. The artists tried to find a way of painting that did not have to follow any particular style or "school" ofart. This way people would not associate the painting with anything else. They would just look at it as a painting and form their own ideas of what it meant.