Critical Analysis of German Expressionism

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Critical Analysis of German Expressionism

German expressionism is not distinguished by a particular style or method of creation, it is better described as a portrayal of the artists’ inner feelings and emotions. This essay explores how Expressionism as a movement emerged across various cities in Germany from approximately 1905 to 1920 and how the prominent artists of that time created a movement that would challenge societies perceptions of art in way that created a more personal experience for the artist and the viewer. (ref1) Prior to the rise of the expressionist movement, people began Immigrating to the city from the yin the name of industrialisation, they were threatened by the impending war and were living in a period of religious doubt, this was thought to create an existential crisis for German people (ref8) across cities such as Munich, Dresden and Berlin. Artists were feeling discouraged, constrained and frustrated by the rigid traditional state-sponsored art education that dominated Germany which went on to influence artists to take a new approach to art which had strong influences to the fauvists, primitive art and Art Nouveau. (ref2) This was a contrasting way to present art which differed greatly from the impressionist’s academic landscape paintings which is what society was primarily used to viewing. How did these factors go on to create a movement that differed from any of the previous works? and how did the German group of expressionists such as Die Brucke and Bleu Reiter create a shift within the art world aiming to consciously forge modern art in an international context in a response to living within a colonial Germany at the time? This essays also aims to contextualise how and why the German Youths revolted against the nationalist social party within Germany and rebel against the wishes of the Hitler youth to conform to a certain idealistic view. The second world war caused a great divide, founding two separate German states and an operation against expressive art which was labelled as degenerate art with German National Socialists confiscating many expressive works and showing them within a museum called the exhibition of shame. How did the rise of the National socialist party effect artists and scrutinise expressive and modern art? This essay will also look at how the Socialist Party attempted to democratise the state and society and how after 1933 this brought an end to the aesthetic and intellectual civilisation of Germany.

Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch and James Ensor are some of the early artists that lay roots to the expressionist art movement, each of whom, from 1885 through 1900, developed a painting style that proved to be highly personal. Using bold colours and strong lines to explore emotional and dramatic themes helped to convey the intensity of the artist’s current perception of themselves and their awareness of their emotional state. These artists were known as post-impressionists and were rebelling against the impressionist art movement which had become mainstream during that period. This compares greatly to the rebellion of the expressionist artists against academic art, which then set to challenge how people viewed the creative world and the paintings created by the German expressionists.

The post-impressionists used various approaches to convey their eclectic view of the world, they would include geometric shapes and definitive forms with simplified colours, often experimenting with abstraction, paying close attention to the artificiality of the painting by using cropped and flattened characteristics. (ref 10) James Ensor (13 April 1860 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter whos work was illustrative in style but also had the bold colours and expressive strokes similar to expressionist paintings. He had a way of turning reality into something strange and expressive through the use of masks and circus themes within his work. These masks hide the identity of the individuals while exposing the wearer’s true personality often being something foolish and crude. (ref11) This illustrative style of painting was a way of portraying one’s emotions and would go on to inspire modern artists to look at the meaning behind their work, rather than creating realistic landscapes that were just aesthetically pleasing to look at.

Creating work that would shock and propose to convey a story and emotion was the late 19th-century Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863-1944) and he was a huge source of inspiration for German expressionist artists. His work was full of vibrant colours and expressive strokes. Munchs famous painting The Scream’ (1893) expresses the anxiety he felt concerning the newly modernised European society, which led to an attack on materialism and longing for the nostalgia of a lost organic unity between art and society. (ref6) Munchs works often depict life and death scenes and the feeling of loneliness. These emotions were depicted by the use of darker lines, sombre tones and the human form which was exaggerated and concise. Munch was and still is, considered to be a father of expressionism, his work being enthusiastically received within Germany.

Munch was often compared to Van Gogh due to the obvious post-impressionist style they both harbour within their work. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and other artists of the rebellious German expressionist group Die Brücke were influenced by Van Goghs work particularly being drawn to his powerful brushwork and strong contrasting colours which is prevalent within his work. The highly admired Van Gogh for his heavy use of colour and visible rejection of academic rules to landscape painting within his works. This rejection of the societal norm appealed to the German expressionists because of the dissatisfaction they also felt towards impressionist still life and traditional landscape paintings. Museum directors and private collectors in both Germany and Austria were some of the first institutions to start buying Van Gogh’s paintings and in 1914 there were more than 160 of his works in German and Austrian collections. This led to many Germans being exposed to his work and thus becoming inspired to create work in a way that expressed their feelings as Van Gogh’s expression was brought to life in paint.

Fauvism was also among one of the movements that went on to influence German expressionist artists which were seen to be by many as an extreme extension of the post-impressionist work by Van Gogh. The name Fauvism applied to describe the work produced by a group of artists from around 1905 to 1910 and, similar to the artists of the post-impressionist movement, was characterised by the strong use of colour and powerful brushstrokes. Fauvism was a short-lived art movement from France that was considered to be an early form of expressionism and it shares the characteristics of some of the expressionist paintings that followed in Germany. One of Fauvisms leading contributions to modern art was its innate goal of separating colour from its descriptive, authentic purpose and allowing it to exist on the canvas as an individualistic element. There was thought to be a revelation of fauvism in 1905 at the end of World War I. (ref 16)

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