EXPRESSIONISM

In the beginning of the 20th century, a new form of art was introduced and celebrated throughout Europe. It was the period of expressionism whic h was mostly represented by Germany and France. Between 1905 and 1925, there was a lot going on in Europe, not only the First World War ending and bringing lots of misery, death, and griefing along. Artists were dedicated to express their feelings and emotions about the things they have witnessed or lived through in these hard times.

E r n s t L u d w i g K i r c h n e r — S z e n e I m C a f é ( 1 9 2 6 )

• Focused on capturing emotions and feelings

• Vivid colors and bold strokes were often used to exaggerate these emotions and feelings.

• Showed influences from Symbolism

Very important names from this special epoche are Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gaugin, and Edvard Munch—I bet you have met some of these guys already in this book. Let‘s learn more about the history of expressionism: the origin of the word expressionism is as easy as the logic behind it whic h we just covered. The Latin term „expressio“ means expression and makes it clear that their is a message behind every painting, expressing a certain feeling, emotion, or point of view. It‘s a form of spiritual expression, being as honest as possible, and using art as a tool of communication for broken hearts and dreams. Before that, it was popular to only look at the feelings from the outside which was bizarre for expressionist artists. It was superficial and didn‘t feel real to them, so they decided to invest deeper and demonstrate real feelings which evoke emotional reactions from the viewer.

In expressionist art there is no taboo, every artist is demonstrating his or her pain with topics that bring a lot of shadows and discomfort, too. Disappointment, grief, happiness, fatigue, pain, and angst—there is nothing that will be left out. The art shall simply be an extended mirror of the inside of the artist—blunt and real.

With the focus of feelings and what emotions go through the bodies, we are experiencing a very spontaneous brush stroke which is one classic characteristic of this epoche. There is no exact painting, since the artist is painting in the moment, just how it is felt. The shapes might be different or simply rough, but in contrast we are treated with color contrasts which create their own special language. Again, reality is not like Mother Nature outside, but this way of abstract truth is the best way the artist can communicate to the viewer.