Modern and contemporary
Expressionism
c. 1905–1925
Color and form distorted to express inner feeling rather than outward appearance.
Overview
In 1905 a group of painters around Henri Matisse showed canvases in such violent, unnatural color that a critic called them “fauves,” wild beasts. The same year in Dresden, the artists of Die Brücke began using harsh color, jagged line and deliberately rough handling to convey anxiety and raw emotion.
A second German group, Der Blaue Reiter, formed in Munich in 1911 around Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. It moved toward abstraction, arguing that color and form could act directly on the spirit in the way music does.
What defines it
- Intense color that ignores natural appearance
- Distorted, simplified or exaggerated forms
- Subjective emotion as the true subject
Works to know
- The Scream
- Woman with a Hat
- Street, Dresden
- Composition VII