German Expressionism Ger

German Expressionism art arose in the early years of the twentieth century in Dresden, Berlin and Munich, as much a state of mind as a type of visual art. The young artists who gathered in various German cities were profoundly critical of the bourgeois materialism of modern life. They were more interested in man's spiritual condition and a harmonious relationship between people and their environment. These early twentieth century German artists were less interested in resemblance of their work to the subject matter than artistic vision, They wished to penetrate appearances in order to perceive the inner essence of things (Uhr 10).

The purpose of this paper is to explore and define German Expressionism, the Die Brncke period, focusing on the artists Emile Nolde, Karl Schmidt Rottluff, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. The discussion will include styles of the artists, influences on their work and the politics of the time that inspired Die Brncke. This paper includes an exploration of the relationship of the artists to each other and the responses of critics to their work.

The term "expressionism" and the idea of self-expression in art originated in France, probably with Gustave Moreau who taught at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1892 to 1898. Matisse was his student. During the first ten years of the twentieth century, Matisse stressed with his own students the concept of

expressionism, that results should be based on one's ow

. . .
nd others on the fringes. This was one of the reasons he formed Die Brncke, as well as to alleviate his sense of loneliness. Kirchner suffered from the complexities of life. He demanded perfectionistic efforts of himself and others and was rarely satisfied. In spite of his critical attitude, what he most wanted was human warmth and congeniality (Ibid. 8). Artistically the early Brncke years allowed Kirchner to mature, primarily in self-taught draftsmanship. He had formerly been exposed to drawing instruction and with practice improved his representation ability. He wrote of these efforts--"I drew in the streets and squares, in inns and cafes...and gradually got into practice. The figures came alive and stayed correctly on the plane ... I checked this against the drawings of the old masters ... Was it perhaps possible in this manner to produce an art, understandable to all ..." (Gordon 19). By 1909 Kirchner had developed a language of symbolic form. He used the fewest possible strokes to render the composition, departing somewhat from nature. He called his abbreviated anatomical forms "hieroglyphs." Page 6 of this paper shows reproductions of two of Kirchner's works. One can view Kirchner's strokes as a type of visua
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Die Brncke, Artistically Brncke, Adolf H÷lzel, Walt Whitman, Gustave Moreau, Primitivism Ibid, Expressionist Studies, Berlin Munich, Der Sturm, Brncke February, die brncke, german expressionism, ernst ludwig, der sturm, ernst ludwig kirchner, emil nolde, german expressionist, van gogh, twentieth century, ludwig kirchner, brncke artists, expressionism die brncke, german expressionism die, nolde die brncke, die brncke 1905,
Approximate Word count = 2935
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)