Western Painting – Expressionism – A New Approach to Creativity in the 20th & 21st Century

Expressionism – Concept
Rich artworks, thick brush strokes, compelling, and conveying the personal ‘feelings’ & ‘emotions,’ rather than physicality, with a dint of ‘Symbolism’ is considered in the world of painting as ‘Expressionism.’ In this style of Western Painting, the stress lies upon story idea and colors, rather than on the finer visual details of the object.

History
In the early 20th century, German Art witnessed a revolution in the form of Expressionism. In 1910, Czech art historian Antonín Matejcek used the term first time as an antonym of Impressionism. This painting style was developed to counter German Positivism, Naturalism, and Impressionism. Expressionism manifested its best through the groups Die Brücke of Munich and Der Blaue Reiter of Dresden.

Expressionists:
The earlier era saw some famous Expressionists, such as Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Otto Dix, Alexei von Jawlensky, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, and Max Beckmann. Great painter Vincent van Gogh used the term ‘Post-Impressionist’ for his painting, which actually was a form of ‘Expressionism’ only.

Expressionism – The Correlation
Expressionism had the influence of other art forms, such as Post-Impressionism, African Art, and French Fauvism, on the emotional wavelength capture. However, bold brush strokes and a vivid use of bright colors, making the paintings look loud, violent, and jarring, remained explicit to Expressionism only. Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ is one of the earliest and the most prominent Expressionist works. Usually dark, gloomy, and full of pessimism, Expressionism rarely showed any positive emotions or optimism. Therefore, Expressionist painters gave vent to their emotions and crude inner self on the canvas through their work. It would serve as a sort of art therapy for them.

Expressionism – Types

o Abstract Expressionism: It is an innovative form of Modern Art. More dynamic, Abstract Expressionism is very less representational. American Expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning and the Color-Field painters, like Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Clyfford Still pioneered Abstract Expressionism in New York, in 1950s.

o Neo-Expressionism: The wave of Neo-Expressionist art emerged in America, Britain, Germany, Italy, and France in 1980s. In every country, a Neo- Expressionist group was formed, such as in America it included Philip Guston and Julian Schnabel, while New Spirit Painting was formed with Paula Rego and Christopher Le Brun in Britain. In Germany, Neue Wilden (New Waves), in Italy Transavanguardia (beyond the avant-garde), and Figuration Libre in France, were other key Neo-Expressionist groups or forms.

o Miscellaneous: New York Figurative Expressionism, Tachisme (1940s-50s), Bay Area Figurative Movement (1950-65), and Lyrical Abstraction (1960s-70s) are some other wings of the very prolific Expressionism.

Expressionist style was always new, unique, and modern in essence. It always sought to balance the countering tangents of the same exponent, such as past and future, static and dynamic, and individual and society. Owing to its vivid and expressive span, Expressionism continues to stay as a prominent fraction of the art faculty. Literature, theatre, film, architecture, and music too have Expressionist wings in their own right.

Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Is is also a venue for artists to display and sell their art . Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited. Please visit the website at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com.

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