Expressionism as an artistic method features poetics. What is expressionism in music? Expressionist composers
Expressionism arose simultaneously in various cities in Germany, as a response to the widespread belief in disharmony between humanity and the outside world. Expressionism was inspired by the art of the Symbolists, but opposed academicism and impressionism in painting.
The most noticeable influence on expressionism was the work of V. Van Gogh, E. Munch, J. Ensor - the artists adopted the technique of using color and light, distorted rendering of shapes and lines to enhance the impressions of the painting.
The classical phase of expressionism lasted from 1905 to 1920, but the influence on many later areas of German painting remained noticeable almost until the end of the 70s and 80s of the 20th century. In the 80s, the movement of neo-expressionism developed, inheriting the ideals and aesthetic norms of the avant-garde movements of the 20th century.
Researchers find the roots of the art of expressionism in the work of W. Turner. His unique style predated the appearance of the first works in the expressionist style. V. Van Gogh is also called the founder-creator of the movement.
Key ideas
Expressionism - art style and the direction in the development of culture, in which the artist seeks to depict not objective reality, but the subjective emotions and reactions that arise in a person in response to events in the world. The artist achieves this goal through distortion, exaggeration, primitivism or fantasy, through bright colors and expressive brushstrokes. 
Mannerism as a style in painting
Term
The term "expressionism" refers to the painting movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, schools of emotive or interpretive art that arose mainly in Germany and, later, in France. The impressionists tried to find a way to display reality in a new way; the expressionists criticized them for their limitations, going beyond the traditional perception of reality. The Impressionists tried to convey light and color in a special way; it was these features that made the Impressionist paintings unique. Expressionists pushed real objects into the background, focusing on the expression of feelings. 
In a broad sense, the concept reflects one of the main art movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the features of which can be expressed in three words: subjectivity, brightness, emotionality.
Expressionism is considered as a stable trend in the development of art in Scandinavia and Germany during the periods spiritual crisis, social, changes. The direction demonstrates a departure from the norms of classicism and rationalism towards display inner world artist.
History of cubism in painting
Rethinking
The formation of expressionism gave rise to new standards in the field of creating and understanding art. Painting was no longer limited to the realistic representation of objects in the surrounding world. The artists' goals were to convey emotions and feelings through visual arts, the use of abstract shapes to convey objects. To do this, they used bright colors and a dynamic plot, without revealing any interest in the perspective and volume of the image. 
Conveying emotions
A feature of the style is the use smooth lines to depict objects, exaggerated brush strokes, rough looking. The expressive features of the painters' works convey emotional condition an artist who reacts to changes in the world around him.
Ideas of social struggle, the role of man in the world, and the consequences of urbanization occupied a special place in his creativity. The artists tried to draw public attention to the loneliness of man in big city, to emotional detachment, which was replaced by capitalism and new ideals of the world.
Constructivism as an avant-garde movement
Artists representatives
The style developed not only in Germany. Representative paintings are known in the works of Russian, French, Italian artists first half of the 20th century. During the interwar period, expressionism had a serious influence on the movements of avant-garde art.
Vincent van Gogh
Van Gogh's work exemplifies expressionism and abstract art. Most of his paintings are autobiographical, chronicling his thoughts, feelings and peace of mind, compositions and shades, special strokes convey subtle state of mind artist. Characteristic feature His works can be called the use of symbols and allegories.
Paul Gauguin
French artist Paul Gauguin relied on color to express his emotions. He used tones of varying intensity to convey emotional experiences and state. Abstract works are considered representative of the style.
Rococo painting style
Munch
The third great artist in the expressionist style is E. Munch, a Norwegian painter and engraver. The artist suffered from neuroses, and his best paintings were written before nervous breakdown, which changed his perception of the world and the transmission of emotions. Most famous picture artist - "Scream" - is a shining example expressionism. The harbingers of the emergence of expressionism were the symbolist artists Hodler and Ensor. 
Communities
The German cities of Dresden, Berlin, and Munich became centers for the development of the style. The most famous communities uniting representatives of expressionism:
Die Brucke (1905 - 1913)
Founded in Dresden, representatives combined traditional German art with African, Post-Impressionist and Fauvist paintings. Artists: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt, Emil Nolde, Otto Müller and Pechstein. 
Blue Rider (1911 - 1914)
The group was founded in Munich, named after a Kandinsky painting. The group included avant-garde artists: Jawlensky, Kandinsky, Klee, Marc and Macke.
Die Neue Sachlichkeit (1920s) ("New Objectivity")
Based in Berlin, the group explored new uniform realism with a socialist and abstract touch. Characterized by satire and strong criticism social problems, political and economic life in Germany after the First World War. Representatives: George Gros, Otto Dix, Max Beckmann, Christian Schad.
Suprematism as a style in painting
Paris was not a major center for the development of expressionism, but many of the artists are associated with the Paris School of painting. The four greatest expressionists at the Ecole de Paris: Frank Kupka, Amedeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine and Pablo Picasso. 
New York has supplanted Paris as the center of innovation in contemporary art, the style was revived in the form of Abstract Expressionism in the early 1940s. Most bright representatives Featuring: Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Clyfford Still.
Meaning
The decline in the influence of expressionism was accelerated by vague ideas of style and the dominance of subjective abstract philosophy, which was not understandable to everyone. Since the style arose and developed in connection with fundamental changes in the world and society, the stabilization of the situation in the political and economic spheres made the slogans and ideas of expressionism no longer relevant.
Expressionism in relation to literature is understood as a whole complex of trends and trends in European literature of the early twentieth century, included in the general trends of modernism. Literary expressionism became widespread mainly in German-speaking countries: Germany and Austria, although this direction also had a certain influence in others. European countries: Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc.
In German literary criticism, the concept of the “expressionist decade” is highlighted: 1914-1924. This is the time of greatest flowering of this literary direction. Although its periodization, as well as a clear definition of the very concept of “expressionism,” still remains rather conditional.
In general, this trend in literature is mainly associated with the activities of German-speaking authors of the pre-war period. In Germany, the center of the movement was Berlin (although there were separate groups in Dresden and Hamburg), in Austria-Hungary - Vienna. In other countries, literary expressionism developed in one way or another under direct or indirect influence German-language literature.
In Germany and Austria, this trend has acquired a huge scale. Thus, P. Raabe’s “Directory of Authors and Books of Expressionism” lists the names of 347 authors. In the preface, its author characterizes expressionism as “a general phenomenon, rare for Germany,” “an all-German spiritual movement” of such power and attractiveness that “nowhere did any kind of countermovement or opposition appear.” This allows researchers to say that the depth of this literary phenomenon has not yet been fully exhausted:
“The same texts and names of canonical authors are heard and in work: Trakl, Benn, Heim, Stramm, Becher, Werfel, Stadler, Lasker-Schüler, Kafka, Döblin, Kaiser, Barlach, Sorge, Toller, van Goddis, Lichtenstein , Workshop, Rubiner, Leongard, Lörke. Perhaps that's all. The rest are usually called poetae minores. And among them there are remarkably talented authors who remain outside the sphere of Russian expressionism: F. Hardekopf, E. V. Lotz, P. Boldt, G. Ehrenbaum-Degele, W. Runge, K. Adler, F. Janowitz - this is only a neighbor circle, and there are dozens more authors of wonderful expressionist anthologies, the “Judgment Day” series (“Der jungste Tag”), hundreds of other periodicals...”
Early Expressionism (before 1914)
The pre-war period (1910-1914) is considered the period of “early expressionism” (German: “Der Frühexpressionismus”), associated with the beginning of the activities of the first expressionist magazines (“Der Sturm”, “Die Aktion”) and clubs (“Neopathetic Cabaret”, “ Cabaret Wildebeest"). This is mainly due to the fact that at this time the term itself had not yet taken root. Instead, they operated with various definitions: “New pathos” (Erwin Löwenson), “Activism” (Kurt Hiller), etc. The authors of this time did not call themselves expressionists, and were classified among them only later.
The first press organ of the Expressionists was the magazine “Der Sturm”, published by Herwart Walden in 1910-1932. A year later, the magazine “Die Aktion” appeared, which mainly published the works of “left-wing” expressionists, close in spirit to socialism and Hiller’s “activism.” In one of the first issues of “Die Aktion” in 1911, Jacob van Goddis’ programmatic expressionist poem “The End of the World” (German: “Weltende”) was published, which brought its author wide fame. It reflected eschatological motifs characteristic of expressionism, which predicted imminent death bourgeois civilization.
Early Expressionist authors experienced a variety of influences. For some, the source was creatively rethought French and German symbolism (Gottfried Benn, Georg Trakl, Georg Heim), especially Arthur Rimbaud and Charles Baudelaire. Others were inspired by Baroque and Romanticism. What everyone had in common was a focused attention to real life, but not in its realistic, naturalistic understanding, but in terms of philosophical foundations. The legendary expressionist slogan: “It’s not a falling stone, but the law of gravity.”
In addition to magazines, the first creative expressionist associations appeared at an early stage: “ New club" and the related "Neopathetic Cabaret", as well as "Gnu Cabaret". The most important figures of this period are Georg Heim, Jacob van Goddis and Kurt Hiller.
“Early Expressionist magazines and authors such as Heim, Van Goddis, Trakl and Stadler were as little aware of themselves as Expressionists as were later Stramm or Hasenclever. IN literary circles before the First World War, synonyms such as “young Berliners”, “neopathetics”, “young literature” were in circulation. In addition, young progressive movements were referred to as “futurism.” Hillier gave out “activism” as the new password. In contrast, the foreign term “expressionism” suggests the unity of the style of the era or aesthetic programs and yet serves as a collective designation for various avant-garde movements and literary techniques, whose main feature lies in their polemical sharpness: anti-traditionalism, anti-realism and anti-psychologism.”
One of the characteristic features of early expressionism is its prophetic pathos, most embodied in the works of Georg Heim, who died in an accident two years before the outbreak of the First World War. In the poems “War” and “A Great Dying is Coming...”, inspired by the events of the Moroccan crisis, many later saw predictions of a future European war. In addition, soon after his death, the poet's diaries were discovered, in which he recorded his dreams. One of these entries describes his own death almost exactly.
In Austria, the most important figure was Georg Trakl. Trakl's poetic heritage is small in volume, but had a significant influence on the development of German-language poetry. The tragic attitude that permeates the poet’s poems, the symbolic complexity of the images, the emotional richness and suggestive power of the verse, the appeal to the themes of death, decay and degradation allow us to classify Trakl as an expressionist, although he himself did not formally belong to any poetic group.
"Expressionist Decade" (1914-1924)
The heyday of literary expressionism is considered to be 1914-1924. At this time, Gottfried Benn, Franz Werfel, Albert Ehrenstein and others worked in this direction.
Important place during this period, “front-line poems” (Ivan Goll, August Stramm, etc.) were occupied. The mass death of people led to a surge in pacifist tendencies in expressionism (Kurt Hiller).
In 1919, the famous anthology “The Twilight of Humanity” (German: “Die Menschheitsdämmerung”) was published, in which the publisher Kurt Pintus gathered the best representatives of this trend under one cover. The anthology subsequently became a classic; in the twentieth century it was reprinted several dozen times.
Politically charged “left” expressionism (Ernst Toller, Ernst Barlach) became popular. At this time, the expressionists began to realize their unity. New groups emerge, expressionist magazines and even one newspaper (Die Brücke) continue to be published. Kurt Hiller becomes the head of the “left” wing. He publishes the yearbooks "Ziel-Jahrbücher" (German: "Ziel-Jahrbücher"), in which the post-war future is discussed.
Some researchers of expressionism oppose its division into “left” and “right”. In addition, recently there has been a reassessment of the importance early stages development of expressionism. For example, N.V. Pestova writes:
“The increased attention to the political aspect of expressionism on the part of researchers was explained rather by attempts at its rehabilitation after the Second World War (which it hardly needed) and the general trend of politicization and ideologization of expressionist art. The division of expressionism into left and right does not justify itself and is not confirmed by poetic practice.”
Expressionist writers
§ Hugo Ball (1886-1927)
§ Ernst Barlach (1870-1938)
§ Gottfried Benn (1886-1956)
§ Johannes Becher (1891-1958)
§ Max Brod (1884-1968)
§ Ernst Weiss (1884-1940)
§ Frank Wedekind (1864-1918)
§ Franz Werfel (1890-1945)
§ Walter Hasenclever (1890-1940)
§ Georg Heim (1887-1912)
§ Ivan Goll (1891-1950)
§ Richard Huelsenbeck (1892-1974)
§ Alfred Döblin (1878-1957)
§ Theodor Deubler (1876-1934)
§ Georg Kaiser (1878-1945)
§ Franz Kafka (1883-1924)
§ Klabund (1890-1928)
§ Alfred Kubin (1877-1959)
§ Elsa Lasker-Schüler (1869-1945)
§ Alfred Lichtenstein (1889-1914)
§ Gustav Meyrink (1868-1932)
§ Minona (1871-1946)
§ Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)
§ Ernst Toller (1893-1939)
§ Georg Trakl (1887-1914)
§ Fritz von Unruh (1885-1970)
§ Leonhard Frank (1882-1961)
§ Jacob van Goddis (1887-1942)
§ Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948)
§ Ernst Stadler (1883-1914)
§ Karl Sternheim (1878-1942)
§ August Stramm (1874-1915)
§ Casimir Edschmid (1890-1966)
§ Carl Einstein (1885-1940)
§ Albert Ehrenstein (1886-1950)
§ Kurt Hiller (1885-1972)
§ Zenon Kosidovsky (1898-1978)
§ Karel Capek (1890-1938)
§ Geo Milev (1895-1925)
The content of the article
EXPRESSIONISM(French expressionisme, from Latin expressio - expression, expressiveness) - a trend in art and literature in the first decades of the 20th century, especially clearly manifested in Germany and Austria; as well as a tendency that periodically arises in the visual arts, literature and cinema, characterized by the desire for deformation or stylization of forms, dynamism, exaltation and grotesqueness in order to create a powerful expressiveness of the artistic image and reflect the worldview of the author.
Expressionism in art.
In the visual arts, expressionism is distinguished by its unusual strength, power and energy in working with various materials and technology, as well as bright, sharply contrasting colors, the use of rough, rough surfaces, distortion of the natural forms and proportions of objects and human figures. Until the 20th century artists did not specifically strive to work in this manner, but nevertheless, a significant number of works of the past can be called expressionistic. Among them, for example, are the creations of primitive and primitive art, incl. figurines associated with the cult of fertility and having deliberately exaggerated sexual characteristics, or medieval sculpture, especially repulsive images of devils and evil spirits, and so on.
In the 20th century artists, especially German ones, consciously sought to convey their feelings and sensations through art. They were deeply influenced by the works of primitive and medieval art, African plastic, as well as in highest degree emotional painting Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh and his Norwegian contemporary Edvard Munch. In 1905, the Bridge group arose in Dresden. Its members, who included Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884–1976), Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein, believed that their works should be a bridge between modernity and what they considered to be living and powerful, i.e. expressionistic, in the art of the past. In the paintings of the artists of the “Bridge” group, nature is deformed, the color is ecstatic, and the colors are applied in heavy masses. The graphics sought to revive medieval tradition wood engravings. Some features of woodcuts (angular chopped forms, simplified outlines, sharp tonal contrasts) influenced the style of their painting.
Later, in 1911–1914, there was a group called “Blue Rider” (“Blauer Reiter”) in Munich. In 1912, the almanac “Blue Rider” was published. Members of the group - Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Paul Klee, Lionel Feininger (1871–1956) and others - had a significant influence on the development of abstract expressionism. The program positions of the members of the association were based on mystical attitudes: the artists tried to express the “internal patterns” and transcendental essences of nature using abstract colorful harmony and structural principles of form-building.
Other prominent expressionists include Oskar Kokoschka, Max Beckmann (1884–1950), Georges Rouault and Chaim Soutine. This direction also developed in the art of Norway (Edvard Munch), Belgium (Constan Permeke), and Holland (Jan Sluijters).
Expressionism emerged in America in the late 1940s. Despite the fact that representatives of abstract expressionism, such as Clyfford Still (1904–1980), Jackson Pollock and Hans Hofmann, completely abandoned the representational, their techniques of painting create a sense of such personal emotionality and energy that this justifies their inclusion to expressionism.
The concept of expressionism is often given more broad meaning, it denotes various phenomena in the visual arts that express an alarming, painful worldview inherent in various historical periods.
Many works of sculpture belong to expressionism. Some of Michelangelo's late period works, with distorted proportions and areas of rough stone, can be called expressionistic. French sculptor 19th century Auguste Rodin also deformed some of the features of the sitter's face or body, handled the material freely, rendering flesh or folds of fabric, and often parts of the figures in his works protruded from the block of rough stone. Among the 20th century sculptors who worked in an expressionistic manner are Ernst Barlach, who used roughly carved figures with massive draperies, and Alberto Giacometti, known for his exorbitantly elongated figures, leaving a feeling of loneliness even when they form a sculptural group.
In architecture, the influence of expressionism was expressed in the use of curvilinear, irregular shapes, unconventional angles and dramatic lighting. Unlike painters and sculptors, expressionist architects were more interested in creating formal effects than in expressing their personal, individual worldview.
Expressionism in literature and cinema.
Expressionism as a formal movement in literature arose in Europe in 1910–1925. Drawing inspiration from the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, with its primacy of subconscious emotions, from the philosophy of Henri Bergson, which emphasized the importance of intuition and memory, and from the work of writers such as Dostoevsky and Strindberg, Expressionist writers sought to convey to the reader the reality of subjective sensations and the inner world. Formally, expressionism in literature first clearly manifested itself in compressed, reverently lyrical poetry German poets Georg Trakl (1887–1914), Franz Werfel and Ernst Stadler (1883–1914).
Expressionism reached its highest flowering in literature in drama. Expressionist playwrights rejected theatrical conventions that were not essential for expressing the main ideas of their plays. Sets and props were kept to a minimum and were often not done in a realistic manner, condensed dialogue was given in a telegraphic style, the action did not develop chronologically, and the movements of the actors were conventional and stylized. The characters were not individuals, but rather types, such as the “soldier”, “worker”, or were personifications of abstract ideas. Finally, inanimate objects was attributed own will and consciousness, and man, on the contrary, was depicted as a mechanical device or a creature like an insect. Many playwrights, including the Germans Georg Kaiser and Ernst Toller (1893–1939), the Czech Karel Capek and the American Elmer Rice, wrote expressionistic plays that protested the dehumanization of modern life. industrial society. For example, in Capek's drama R.U.R. (1920) a group of mechanical people, which he called robots, kill their human masters. However, not all expressionist plays are about the evils of mechanized society. For example, in the play by Eugene O'Neill Emperor Jones(1920) scenery, lighting and the incessant sound of tom-toms are used to express psychological state Main character.
As a formal movement in literature, expressionism ended in the mid-1920s, but it had a profound influence on authors subsequent generations. Its elements can be found, for example, in plays Silver cup(1928) and Behind the fence(1933) Sean O'Casey, Murder in the Cathedral(1935) T.S. Eliot, Our town(1938) and On the brink of death(1942) by Thornton Wilder. Expressionist features such as an emphasis on inner consciousness and the technique of "reorganizing" reality to reflect the point of view of this consciousness are also characteristic of the works of Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, William Faulkner, Samuel Beckett and John Hawkes (b. 1925).
In cinema, expressionism reached its peak in German film Doctor Caligari's office(1919). In this picture, the strangely distorted setting is an expression of the worldview of the main character - a madman. German Expressionist cinema of the 1920s and 1930s is characterized by the use of unusual camera angles and moving cameras, emphasizing the importance of the subjective point of view. In cinema, everything that is done through artificial manipulation - shooting angle, fast or slow motion, slow dissolves, rapid frame changes, too close-up, random use of color, special lighting effects, – refers to expressionistic techniques.
The end of the 19th century was fantastically rich in various events in art. European political life suffered severe shocks. The tense situation of that period also influenced artists. Italy of that time was a monument to its former greatness. It was the protest against the old culture that gave rise to futurism. The richest traditions of France led to the birth of Cubism there, but the peaceful island of calm in Switzerland turned out to be the birthplace of Dadaism. Germany also did not stand aside. Right here, on turn of the 19th century and the 20th century, one of the most diverse and controversial trends in art arose and was accompanied by the development of “ expressionism».
Origin expressionism in painting it is necessary to look for the diversity and richness of German culture, which served as the basis for this direction in art.
That point of view on creativity, which turned out to be key for expressionism, largely defined by Friedrich Nietzsche. The book The Birth of Tragedy, or Hellenism and Pessimism (1871) highlights ancient Greek art. In it, Nietzsche tries to comprehend it in a new way. The philosopher points to 2 types of aesthetic principles, which he calls Dionysian and Apollinian. Nietzsche expounds A New Look in this book and in many ways challenges the usual German approach, which interprets ancient Greek art optimistically, perceiving its bright - Apollinian beginning. The author shows another Greece - intoxicated with mythology, tragic - Dionysian Greece, and in this he sees its similarity with contemporary Europe.
According to Nietzsche, the Dionysian principle is intoxication, chaos, oblivion, ecstatic dissolution of identity in the mass.
Expressionist artists
Despite the fact that Nietzsche is the main factor that provoked the emergence of expressionism, it was not the only reason the birth of a new movement in art. The thing is that German fine art is characterized by a search for the aesthetics of ugliness. Even during the Middle Ages, German artists could find beauty in the ugly and beauty in the disgusting. Expressionism drew heavily on the experience of past masters such as Grunewald, Cranach and Durer.
The work of Gothic masters such as Pieter Bruegel the Elder and El Greco influenced expressionist painting.
Artistic merit of exotic art Far East, Africa and Oceania, in many ways, were rediscovered. It was all intricately mixed and turned into extremely original paintings expressionism.
Expressionism has become such a controversial culture. On the one hand, the expressionists did not give any opportunity for a loud declaration on the birth of a new movement, on the other hand, they recommended abandoning reality for the sake of deepening into subjective experience. Worship of individualism in expressionist painting amazingly combined with a continuous desire to unite.
The first such association was formed in 1905 and was called “Most”. It included four expressionist artists. They were architecture students from the Dresden Technical High School: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Fritz Bleil, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Erich Heckel. Dissatisfied with their architectural training, they began coming together for group life drawing sessions. Created by them creative association partially resembled a medieval guild commune. Most members lived and worked together.
Expressionism in painting he also revealed such features of fine art as increased tension color contrast, strengthening the energy of form through deformation and the use of open, flashy colors.
Bathers in Moritzburg, Ernst Kirchner Girl under a Japanese umbrella., Ernst Kirchner
Kirchner published the “Chronicle of the artistic association “Bridge”” in 1913. It provoked satirical disagreement from other “Bridge” members, who felt that the author had overestimated the personal role in the functioning of the group. As a result, the association officially ended its activities.
Details Category: Variety of styles and movements in art and their features Published 08/22/2015 17:28 Views: 5896Expressionists strive for extreme expressiveness of emotions in their works. Translated from Latin, expressio means “expression”, “expressiveness”.
But this characteristic is not enough to understand the essence of expressionism, because... expression of feelings is the prerogative of not only expressionism, but also other artistic movements: sentimentalism, romanticism, fauvism, post-impressionism, etc. The expressionists wanted not only to depict life, but also to express it, to creatively influence it. Expressionism is an expression of the soul-filling, completely captivating feelings of a person at the highest moment of his experience. But the most important thing that distinguishes expressionists from artists of other movements is the desire to express the inner essence of phenomena. Such a creative attitude is initially doomed to subjectivity and extreme hyperbolization. But, expressing feelings, expressionism strives for the cleansing fire of comprehensive and all-human love.
In this regard, I would like to cite the lines of the poet S. Nadson, which were written in 1882 and which express the essence of expressionism.
Believe in great power love!..
Believe sacredly in her conquering cross,
In her light, radiantly saving
A world mired in dirt and blood,
Believe in the great power of love!
The emergence and development of expressionism
Expressionism received its greatest development in the first decades of the 20th century. mainly in Germany and Austria. It arose as an acute and painful reaction to the First world war and revolutionary movements. Artists of this time perceived reality extremely subjectively, through the prism of disappointment, anxiety, and fear. Therefore, in their works, expression prevails over image.
If we start from the characteristics of expressionism as an artistic method, then the concept of “expressionism” can be interpreted much more broadly: it artistic expression strong emotions, and this very expression of emotions becomes the main purpose of creating a work. And in this understanding, expressionism is not limited to time - it has always existed. Take a look at El Greco's painting "View of Toledo", painted in the 17th century.
El Greco "View of Toledo" (1604-1614). Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
And this is an example of expressionism of the 21st century.
Painting by modern French expressionist Laurent Parselier
Expressionism in literature
Dominant literary movement expressionism began in German-speaking countries: Germany and Austria (Franz Kafka, Gustav Meyrink, Leo Perutz, Alfred Kubin, Paul Adler). But some expressionist writers also worked in other European countries: in Russia - L. Andreev, E. Zamyatin, in Czechoslovakia - K. Chapek, in Poland - T. Michinsky, etc.
The works of early expressionism were influenced by French and German symbolism, especially Arthur Rimbaud and Charles Baudelaire. Some were inspired by Baroque and Romanticism. What they all had in common was an attention to real life in terms of philosophical foundations. The legendary expressionist slogan: “It’s not a falling stone, but the law of gravity.”
One of the characteristic features of early expressionism is its prophetic pathos, which was most embodied in the works of Georg Heim, who died in an accident two years before the outbreak of the First World War.
In the poems “War” and “A Great Dying is Coming...” many later saw predictions of a future European war.
In Austria the most important figure was Georg Trakl. Trakl's poetic heritage is small in volume, but it had a significant influence on the development of German-language poetry. The tragic attitude, the symbolic complexity of the images, and the emotional richness make it possible to classify Trakl as an expressionist, although he himself did not formally belong to any poetic group.
The heyday of literary expressionism is considered to be 1914-1924. (Gottfried Benn, Franz Werfel, Albert Ehrenstein, etc.). The mass loss of life during World War I led to pacifist tendencies in expressionism (Kurt Hiller, Albert Ehrenstein). In 1919, the famous anthology “Twilight of Humanity” was published, which collected best works this direction.
The new style in European lyric poetry very quickly spread to other types of literature: drama (B. Brecht and S. Beckett), prose (F. Kafka and G. Meyrink). At the beginning of the 20th century. Russian authors also created their works in this style: the story “Red Laughter”, the story “The Wall” by L. Andreev, the early poems and poems of V. V. Mayakovsky.
L. Andreev is considered the founder of Russian expressionism.
Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev (1871-1919)
Leonid Andreev's first works are imbued with critical analysis modern world(“Bargamot and Garaska”, “City”). But already in the early period of his work, the main motives appeared: extreme skepticism, disbelief in the human mind (“The Wall”, “The Life of Vasily of Thebes”). There was a time of fascination with spiritualism and religion (“Judas Iscariot”). The writer was at first sympathetic to the revolution, but after the reaction of 1907 he abandoned all revolutionary views, believing that a rebellion of the masses could only lead to great casualties and great suffering (“The Tale of the Seven Hanged Men”). In his story “Red Laughter” Andreev painted a picture of horror modern warfare. The dissatisfaction of his heroes with the surrounding world and order results in passivity or anarchic rebellion. The writer's dying writings are imbued with depression and the idea of the triumph of irrational forces.
Andreev's literary language is also full of expression and symbolic.
B. Kustodiev “Portrait of E. Zamyatin” (1923)
Expressionist tendencies also manifested themselves in creativity Evgenia Zamyatina. Although his style was close to surreal. The most famous work E. Zamyatina - dystopian novel “We”, which describes a society of strict totalitarian control over the individual (names and surnames are replaced by letters and numbers, the state controls even intimate life), ideologically based on Taylorism (management theory), scientism (ideological position representing scientific knowledge highest cultural value And fundamental factor interaction of a person with the world) and the denial of fantasy, controlled by a “Benefactor” who is “elected” on a non-alternative basis.
Expressionism in painting
The predecessors of expressionism were the art group “Most”. Its participants developed their own “group style”, in which the paintings were so similar in their subjects and method of painting that it was not always possible to immediately distinguish who the author was. The peculiarity of the “Bridge” artists is their deliberately simplified aesthetic vocabulary with short, abbreviated forms; deformed bodies; luminous paints applied with a wide brush in flat strokes and often outlined with a hard contour line. The contrast of different colors was widely used to increase their “glow”, enhancing the effect on the viewer. This was their similarity with the Fauves. Like the Fauves, the expressionists from “The Bridge” wanted to build their compositions on pure paint and form, denying stylization and any symbolism.
O. Muller “Lovers”
The main goal of their work was not to display the external world, which seemed only a lifeless shell of truth, but that “real Reality” that cannot be seen, but which the artist can feel. To this current in art, Herwarth Walden, Berlin owner art gallery and a promoter of avant-garde art, in 1911 he gave the name “expressionism,” which at first united both cubism and futurism.
The German Expressionists considered the Post-Impressionists their predecessors. Dramatic paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch and James Ensor are filled with emotions of delight, indignation, and horror.
Edvard Munch(1863-1944) – Norwegian painter and graphic artist, theater artist, art theorist. One of the first representatives of expressionism. His work is captured by the motives of death, loneliness, but at the same time the thirst for life.
The most famous work Munch's painting "The Scream". The horror-stricken man in this picture cannot leave anyone indifferent.
E. Munch “The Scream” (1893). Cardboard, oil, tempera, pastel. 91 x 73.5 cm. National Gallery(Oslo)
A possible reading of the painting: a man is agonizing over what is heard from everywhere, as the artist himself put it, “the cry of nature.”
Banality, ugliness and contradiction modern life gave rise to feelings of irritation, disgust, and anxiety among the expressionists, which they conveyed with the help of distorted lines, quick and rough strokes, and flashy color. Preference was given to extremely contrasting colors in order to enhance the impact on the viewer and not leave him indifferent.
"Blue Rider"
In 1912, the Blue Rider group was formed in Munich, whose ideologists were Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. This is a creative association of representatives of expressionism at the beginning of the 20th century. in Germany. The association published an almanac of the same name.
In addition to Kandinsky and Marc, the association included August Macke, Marianna Verevkina, Alexey Jawlensky and Paul Klee. In this work art group Dancers and composers also participated. They were united by an interest in medieval and primitive art and the movements of the time, Fauvism and Cubism.
August Macke and Franz Marc were of the opinion that every person has an internal and external perception of reality, which should be united through art. This idea was substantiated theoretically by Kandinsky. The group strived to achieve equality in all art forms.
M. Verevkina “Autumn. School"
Expressionism in architecture
Architects found new technical possibilities for self-expression using brick, steel and glass.
- Lutheran Church in Copenhagen. Named in honor of the Danish theologian, church leader and writer N.-F.-S. Grundtviga. It is one of the most famous churches in the city and a rare example a religious building built in the style of expressionism. Its construction lasted from 1921 to 1940. The architecture of the temple intertwines features of traditional Danish village churches, Gothic, Baroque and various modernist movements. Construction material – yellow brick.
Chilihouse (Hamburg)– An 11-story warehouse building for goods imported from Chile. The building was built in 1922-1924. designed by the German architect Fritz Höger and is one of the most significant monuments expressionism in world architecture. Also known as the bow of a ship.
Einstein Tower (Potsdam)- an astrophysical observatory on the territory of the Albert Einstein Science Park on Mount Telegrafenberg in Potsdam. Revolutionary for its time, the creation of the architect Erich Mendelsohn. Built in 1924. It was planned to conduct experiments in the tower to prove Einstein's theory of relativity. The tower telescope belongs to the Potsdam Astrophysical Institute.
Expressionism in other forms of art
Arnold Schoenberg "Blue Self-Portrait" (1910)
Here we should first of all talk about the music of Arnold Schoenberg. Expressionist music was difficult to perceive and caused controversial criticism. This is how a Russian spoke about Schoenberg’s music musical critic V. Karatygin: “Dostoevsky created Notes from Underground.” Schoenberg composes music from the underground of his strange, wonderful soul. It's scary, this music. She irresistibly attracts you, self-willed, deep, mystical. But she's scary. No composer in the world has ever composed more terrible music.”
Jacques-Emile Blanche "Portrait of Igor Stravinsky" (1915)
The music of Ernst Kshenek, Paul Hindemith, Bela Bartok, and Igor Stravinsky was close to the expressionist style.
In 1920-1925 Expressionism also dominated German cinema and theater.
The beginning of film expressionism was the film “The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari” (1920), which became famous not only in Germany, but also abroad. He conveyed altered states of human consciousness on the screen.
Developing the basic idea of "Caligari", expressionist directors reveal the duality of every person, the bottomless evil hidden in him, and in connection with this they foresee the inevitability of a social apocalypse. This film was actually the beginning of horror films.
The films “The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari” directed by Robert Wiene (1920), “Golem” directed by K. Böse and P. Wegener (1920), “Weary Death” directed by Fritz Lang (1921), “Nosferatu. Symphony of Horror" by German film director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (1922), "Cabinet wax figures"directed by P. Leni (1924), " Last Man"directed by V. Murnau (1924).