EXPRESSIONISM Scream for the Spirit The stuff of

EXPRESSIONISM: Scream for the Spirit! “The stuff of thought is the seed of the artist. Dreams form the bristles of the artist’s brush. As the eye functions as the brain’s sentry, I communicate my innermost perceptions through the art, my worldview. ” -Arshile Gorgy, Abstract Expressionist

Expressionism… to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas. n Expressionist artists sought to express meaning or emotional experience rather than physical reality n The art aims to reflect the artist's state of mind rather than the reality of the external world n - http: //www. ibiblio. org/wm/paint/tl/20 th/expressionism. html

1905 -1937 Early Expressionism in Europe tended to dwell on the darker, sinister aspects of the human psyche a fascination with the enticing yet often sordid experiences of modern urban life emotionally charged portraiture the need to confront the devastating experience of World War I and its aftermath. n Renouncing the stiff bourgeois social values that prevailed at the turn of the 20 th century, and rejecting the stale traditions of the state-sponsored art academies, they turned to boldly simplified or distorted forms and exaggerated, sometimes clashing colors n Directness, frankness, and a desire to startle the viewer characterize Expressionism in its various branches and permutations. n n Artists: Vasily Kandinsky, Heinrich Campendonk, Max Beckmann, Egon Schiele http: //www. moma. org/explore/collection/ge/index

Some Important Artists from Early Expressionism Vasily Kandinsky Picture with an Archer 1909 Vasily Kandinsky Untitled (Ohne Titel) 1915

Heinrich Campendonk Two Goats 1918 Heinrich Campendonk Jean Bloé Niestlé 1921

Max Beckmann Königin Bar (Self-Portrait) 1920 Max Beckmann Morgue (Totenhaus) 1922

Egon Schiele Shaw or the Irony (Shaw oder die Ironie). . . 1910 Egon Schiele Death and the Maiden 1915

1920 -1950 Expressionism in America From the 1920 s until after the end of World War II, a distinctly American form of Expressionism evolved. n Most of the artists in this movement, children of immigrants from eastern and southern Europe, African -Americans and other outsiders to American mainstream culture, grew up in the urban ghettoes of the East Coast or Chicago. n Artists tackled social problems such as poverty, the working poor, the Great Depression, racism, anti. Semitism, the onset of Fascism, World War II and nuclear threat during the Cold War. Artists: Philip Guston, Max Weber, Marsden Hartley n

Philip Guston, The Tormentors, 1947 -8 Philip Guston, The Porch, No. 2, 1947

Max Weber Grand Central Station 1915 Chinese Restaurant Max Weber 1915

Marsden Hartley E 1915 Marsden Hartely Sustained Comedy 1939

1950 -1960 s Abstract Expressionism an American post-World War II movement n the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris n Painterly style of messiness and extremely energetic applications of paint – sometimes called “action painting”. n a supposed unconscious manifestation of the act of pure creation n To many viewers, the whole movement seemed like youthful antagonism--hardly worthy of the name "art. " Artists: Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Joan Mitchell n

Arshile Gorgy They Will Take My Island 1944 Arshile Gorky Garden in Sochi 1941

Willem de Kooning Gotham News 1955 Two Figures in the Landscape 1967

Jackson Pollock Number 1 1949

Joan Mitchell Untitled 1950 Joan Mitchell Girolata Triptych 1964

Late 1970 s -1990 s Neo-Expressionism the arrival of graffiti art (the expressive rawness of graffiti marks) in the galleries in the 1980 s n artists return to working with form while depicting the world as it existed, in all its harshness and ugliness n artists did not feel obliged to glorify the world or "tamper with reality" n Supporters of Neo-Expressionism, and the larger return to painting in the 1980 s, argued that Conceptual Art, Minimalism, and Pop Art had neglected art's ability to activate the imagination, to invent myth, and to allow for human emotion in art n Artists: Anselm Kiefer, Francesco Clemente, Jean-Michel Basquiat

Anselm Kiefer Grane 1980 -1993 Anselm Kiefer The Paths of World Wisdom: Hermann’s Battle 1982– 93

Francesco Clemente I 1982 Francesco Clemente My Parents 1982

Jean-Michel Basquiat Untitled (Skull) 1984 Jean-Michel Basquiat Mona Lisa 1983

Jean-Michel Basquiat Notary 1983

Questions to ponder… n Why do you think that artists have consistently gone back to expressionism throughout the last 100 plus years? n Do you feel this art is relevant to an audience/viewers or only important for the artist? n Is it imperative for artists to express their emotions/feelings through their artwork in a way that others can easily understand?