Western Painting – Neo-Expressionism – A Creative Wave From Germany

Neo-Expressionism – The History
During the late 1970s, a modern painting style called Neo-expressionism developed in Germany. German painter George Baselitz (born 1938) was considered as its pioneer. This art style was adapted in painting, printmaking, and sculpting. It challenged the Conceptual and Minimalists art movements, which reined the art scene at the time. By early 1980s, Neo-expressionism gained prominence in the entire Europe and later made its mark in the US. Though, may not be considered as an art movement as such, but it was a major phenomenon that changed the art world for good. Neo-expressionism ended the domination of the impersonal American Abstract styles. It also brought the welcome revival of the human element and relatable Symbolism in art forms.

The Related Terms
In Germany, Neo-expressionists were tagged as Neue Wilden, meaning ‘new wild ones.’ In Italy, it was also referred to as Transavantgarde, which stands for ‘beyond the avant-garde.’ In the US, it was labeled with different names, like New Fauves or Punk Art, and even Bad Painting.

The Details
Neo-expressionists often created allegorical works based on history, mythology, and eroticism. Over-dramatized themes with brilliant coloring and wild brushwork were the basic characteristics of any work of this genre. The artists were not interested in making realistic representations, but they wanted to convey intense emotions through their paintings. They would adapt frenzied brushstrokes with cacophonous color combinations to create highly tense overpowering depictions. Some artists even used thick impasto of color blended with sand, straw, or broken glass, to heighten impact. They sometimes even made use of straight abstracts to depict human figures. Their unusual approach lent their works a certain quality of rawness. Neo-expressionism may not have been a huge commercial success but it carved a niche for itself in the art market. Many art critics frowned on the aggression displayed in Neo-expressionist works and described them as ‘ugly’ and ‘unrefined.’

The Artists
Some of the major Neo-expressionists are German artists Anselm Kiefer (born 1945) and Jorg Immenorff (1945-2007), Italian artists Francesco Clemente (born 1952) and Sandro Chia (born 1946), British artist Christopher Le Brun (born 1951) and Paula Rego (born 1935), and American painters Julian Schnabel (born 1951) and David Salle (born 1952). It is not a very well known fact that Elizabeth Murray (1940-2007) and Maria Lassnig (born 1919) were two important female protagonists of Neo-expressionism.

Conclusion
A controversial aspect of the movement was that chiefly male artists dominated it. Most of the time, they would purposefully exclude female participants from their exhibitions. One such exhibition was ‘New Spirit in Painting,’ held in a London gallery in 1981 and had 38 male artists showing their works. By mid-1980s, the movement ended.

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. Please visit the website at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited.