G erman Expressionism

Abstract

Expressionism is a term that developed in the visual arts in Germany shortly before World War I. In effect, Expressionism was an avant‐garde movement under the broad umbrella of cultural modernity that aligned itself in opposition to traditional “realism,” especially as embodied in Impressionism. Impressionist art, centrally associated with French painting, strove to capture vividly the surface reality of the world. In contrast, the Expressionist artist is less interested in the veracity of objective perception than in the exploration of subjective emotions and in the revelation of inner reality. Consequently, Expressionist art does not present a fixed style and, unlike other modernist movements like Surrealism or Futurism, it does not adhere to a specific manifesto. Expressionism is more of an attitude or even a spirit: it utilizes styles that can be distorted and alienating, juxtaposing formal techniques and jettisoning conventional colors and composition in order to locate a more profound “truth.” Expressionism may have begun in the visual arts but it extended its influence across culture more broadly and the term can be used in relation to literature, theater, architecture, and music. To this end, the definitions of the movement, let alone its characteristics, are often opaque and even misleading.