Expressionism

Expressionism was an early 20th century art movement that aimed to express emotion and spirituality over objective reality. Expressionist artworks used exaggerated colors, distorted forms and emphatic brushstrokes to convey angst, alienation and deeply personal inner experiences.
Expressionism originated in Germany before World War I. It was rooted in artists’ desire to explore human emotion and spirituality rather than physical appearances. Key groups included Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter. Prominent artists include Wassily Kandinsky, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Franz Marc and Egon Schiele.
Expressionist art rejected Impressionism’s naturalism in favor of symbolic use of color, form and mark making. Figures and landscapes were distorted and rendered in emphatic brushstrokes and dissonant colors meant to evoke passion or angst rather than visual perfection. Kandinsky pioneered non-representational painting emphasizing color and line as emotive vehicles of “inner necessity.”
The movement spread beyond Germany to impact art worldwide. But two world wars and disrupted lives of artists limited its purest development. Expressionism shaped subsequent Surrealism, Abstract art and Neo-Expressionism with its psychologically evocative and socially critical style.
At its heart, Expressionism represented the tortured vision of artists grappling with alienation and spiritual questions in technology-driven early 20th century Europe. Through a radical pictorial language, Expressionists aimed to convey deep truths about human experience in a way more visceral than intellectual. Their highly subjective approach produced art of angst, ecstasy or social criticism that continues to move viewers today with its emphatic and emotive power.
Expressionism’s vision lives on in art that aims to explore human experience through symbolic uses of form, color and gesture. Its influence shaped some of the 20th century’s most powerful explorations of spirituality, alienation and personal freedom in visual form.