Expressionism. A Revolution in German Art

by Dietmar Elger

Anxious angles: The pioneers and masterworks of degenerate ExpressionismGerman Expressionists were uneasy and angry. Emerging at the dawn of the 20th century, they railed against Christian and bourgeois values as much as rampant urban industrialization. Anti-imperialist, they were dispersed, shattered, and depleted by the horrors of the First World War, and rallied their efforts only to be officially erased by the Nazi Degenerate Art exhibition of 1937.In this comprehensive TASCHEN collection, director of the Gerhard Richter Archive Dietmar Elger gathers the many artists and elements of this urgent, scattered, complex movement into one authoritative overview of its protagonists, principles, and essential role in 20th-century modernism. Finding a critical calm amid the frenzy of color and distortion, the book distills Expressionism s leading collectives, Die Brucke and Der Blaue Reiter, as well as its regional characteristics across its Berlin and Munich hubs, and its North German, Rheinland, and Viennese variants.Along the way, we compare and contrast themes and stylistic choices as this dispersed group of artists wrestled with their modern industrial reality. We find luminous streaks from Wassily Kandinsky, and the sickly hues of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, the futurist facets of Franz Marc, and a partial Impressionist throwback in the gaudy dabs of Emil Nolde. We meet fat faces, tired faces, and faces like African masks. We walk into seedy bars with bloated old men, and then enter a claustrophobic yellow room occupied by an awkwardly posed nude. We are crushed in a cacophony of city sound and smoke, and then left alone with woods, a lake, and silence.Spanning this richness and range in Expressionist output, Elger features such well-known figures as Beckmann, Kandinsky, Kirchner, Kokoschka, Nolde, Schiele, while taking care to present inadequately studied artists such as Conrad Felixmuller, Ludwig Meidner, and Marianne von Werefkin. The result is an expansive, inclusive, dependable digest of a vivid, often violent mode of expression, and the yearning and unease behind its frenzied paintwork."

Genres: Art, Art History, Nonfiction, Germany, History, German Literature

295 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1994

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would highly recommend this for layperson wanting a reasonably comprehensive introduction to Expressionist art and its historical and cultural context. This book presents a fairly thorough sampling of the major artists and groups, and can be understood without much background in art theory. The author occasionally lapses into jargonish phrases such as "autonomous colors" but for the most part technical elements are clearly explained. The art reproductions are numerous and of high quality.

After the introduction, the chapters are arranged by groups or cities. Each begins with an overview and is followed by detailed treatments of the major artists, with a small amount of pertinent biographical information. Thus, we have

Die Brücke Group: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Max Pechstein, Otto Mueller.


Kirchner's portrait of the group

Northern German Expressionism: Emil Nolde, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Christian Rohlfs


Paula Modersohn-Becker - Pram, children and goat

The Blaue Reiter: Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Alexei von Jawlensky, Gabriele Munter, Marianne von Werefkin


Wassily Kandinsky, The Blue Rider

Rhenish Expressionism: August Macke, Heinrich Campendonk, Wilhelm Morgner


Campendonk, Bucolic Landscape

The Subject of the City: Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Conrad Felixmuller, Ludwig Meidner, Lyonel Feininger


Meidner, Burning City

Expressionism in Vienna: Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele


Kokoschka, Lovers with cat

Obviously some of these individuals belonged to more than one group or location. And some who are grouped together had no contact with one another. Elger explains in the text which people influenced each other and when.

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding introduction to the early years (1905-1920) of German Expressionism, esp. the Brücke School, the Blaue Reiter, and with shorter sections on Dix, Grosz, Kokoschka, Schiele, and many others.

The prints are clear and highly selective, and the text is generally quite informative. A biographical/bibliographical sketch of each artist concludes this well-produced and well-priced volume.

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-illustrated survey. I find the treatment of color more appealing than that of form.

[Maarten Mathijssen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taschen uitgave met prachtige illustraties . Het Duits Expressionisme wordt beknopt maar zeer overzichtelijk behandeld. Het Frans Expressionisme oftewel het Fauvisme wordt zijdelings aangeroerd, met name Matisse wordt regelmatig als referentiekader genoemd. Dit boek is echter een puur Duitse aangelegenheid, met 2 Oostenrijkse uitstapjes: Kokoschka en Schiele. Het interessante aan deze stroming wordt door Dietmar Elger goed beschreven, de ontwikkeling van de moderne kunst wordt in sterke mate door het Expressionisme gevormd. Het zoeken naar nieuwe vormen, kleurgebruik en techniek breekt drastisch met het verleden. Van Gogh en Gauguin gelden als de belangrijkste overgangs figuren. De twee belangrijkste scholen en hun exponenten, Die Brücke en Der Blaue Reiter worden uitvoerig behandeld. Een andere rode draad door dit boek is de Eerste Wereld Oorlog, door vele kunstenaars omarmt als de oplossing om met de oude wereld af te rekenen. Met groot enthousiasme meldt men zich voor het front, de overlevende getekend voor het leven (Otto Dix, Max Beckmann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner), de gesneuvelde een veelbelovend leven ontnomen ( Franz Marc, August Macke, Wilhelm Morgner, Egon Schiele).
Zeer mooie uitgave.

[Shauntelle James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains alot of art concepts that can reveal alot about what life was like during the early 19's and what they expected life to be like in our time. Althought the art was particulary simple, the concepts were extremely intelligent and I think that art today should continue to be inspired by these concepts. One particular theme that caught my interest was the fictionalization of life periods. I have always been particularly curious about their use in media and have always improvised off them. Looking at the negative side, I found that some of the themes were sexist. Most of this appears to be irrelevant to our time; but it could be possible that some of these beliefs still influence us. I also found abstaction to be an interesting topic however! That is were the artist enchances the idealize shape in depicting objects. In this way, form is used to commincate the theme. In my opinion, I found the use of form to be a more sophistiated technique than the use of color.

[Brian Mortimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enlightening coffee book, great for whiling away the hours with the explosion of creativity, almost predominantly from Germany in the early to mid 20th century. The term expressionism encompasses a quality of the inner as opposed to the outer world. Multiple schools of thought such as Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter came about, providing their own take on the expressionist movement. Often the artists within these circles are quite different from one another.
This book takes us through the idealised bucolic representations of some to the politically-charged cityscape works of others during the turmoil of the First World War. We see the influence (and seminal works in some cases) of post-Impressionism, Dadaism, Verism, Cubism, Orphism, and Abstract art amongst other styles, which diversifies the art of that which is dubbed expressionism.
Not only has it been interesting to view such a wide range of representational and non representational art (as well as impartial objectivism and overtly political works) but this book gives you a sense of places and times and the events that influenced these artists and their movements.
There are a small handful of errors in typing and directions to painting on the wrong pages. This aside, it's mostly well written and devoid of artistic jargon. More information could have been allotted to some of the artists. I enjoyed reading this and shall give it 4 out of 5

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 / 5.0

Excellent descriptions of artists and the details of their styles. Very informative and instructive. Would have liked more pictures and a glossary.

Gift from Fank Kniest in prep for move to Bend.

[Liam Connolly]

Makes me want to get back into painting/drawing and try some of these styles

[Andrés León Guacaneme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Repaso por algunas obras y autores de esta vanguardia pictórica

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of German Expressionist artists

[Riana · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read through two thirds of this a while ago, but then needed a break and put it away.

i found it well written and loved the way text and images fit together. i learned very much and will definitely finish reading it.