German Expressionism

Expressionist artists like Munch and Schiele attempted to depict their subjectÆs thoughts, feelings, and perceptions through a number of spatial and formal techniques. The main principle underlying the work of expressionists is their belief that the world is distorted or shaped by unique individual point of view. Such a belief leads to what Mike Budd (1990) calls ôthe expressionist externalization of passionate, individual emotionö (p. 46). Expressionists like Munch and Schiele struggled with human identity and the events in a life that shape identity or distort it. In essence, expressionists like Munch and Schiele used painting as a means of providing social and political commentary which itself attempts to shape the viewerÆs understanding of the ways in which postmodernism has impacted upon human identity.

The works of Munch and Schiele demonstrate, in

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neumonia. Despite this similarity to Munch, SchieleÆs works also incorporated mannerism. As Resnik (2000) maintains, ôSchiele is an expressionist painter corresponding historically to the movement of that name; but at the same time he is a mannerist in the way in which he conveys his inner gestuality, beyond all formal or unconventional judgment coming from his contemporariesö (p. 119). In his nudes, we also see the elements of German Expressionism that were concerned with socio-politics and its impact on the individual, especially with regard to sexuality. In Art, Sexuality and Viennese Modernism, Leon Botstein maintains that despite his youth, in his works Schiele evolved from semi-pornographic voyeurism to a deep exploration of the social aspects of sexuality, ôloneliness, connection, abandonment, affection and needö (Werkner, 1994, p. 64). Unlike some of his more pornographically oriented works, these internal aspects of social dimensions of sexuality make SchieleÆs nude works easier to embrace. His works also use the body as a metaphor to express needs and emotions in a similar manner to the images displayed in the works of Munch. In many ways the focus on sexuality and self in SchieleÆs works was a rejection of what h
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Approximate Word count = 1944
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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