Art Appreciation: Expressionism: from Kirchner to Kandinsky and Kokoschka (1905-1939)

Emerging in the first years of the 20th century in Germany and Austria as a small avant-garde movement, Expressionism was soon to spread to other art forms. By the 1920s, expressionist themes and styles could be seen in advertising and films. In this course, we will first come back on the roots of the Expressionist movement. We will see the importance of German medieval artists, from Grünewald to Dürer, as well as the influence of post-impressionist artists such as Van Gogh and Munch. We will then focus on several centres: Dresden with the group “The Bridge” (Kirchner, Schmidt-Rotluff, Nolde…), Munich with “The Blue Rider” (Kandinsky, Munter, Marc, Macke, Jawlensky…), and Vienna with Oskar Kokoschka and Egon Schiele. We will see a great variety of artists, subjects and styles. Some will be well-known, other less so, such as the “primitive” sculptures of Freundlich and the apocalyptic paintings of Meidner. With comparisons with the works of the French Fauvists and the Canadian Group of Seven, we will assess the particularity of the German and Austrian movement. As we consider the importance of the historical context that saw the development of Expressionism, we will discuss the impact of the First World War on these young artists. Finally, we will come back on the way the Expressionists were persecuted and denigrated as “degenerate” by the nazis in the 1930s and during the Second World War.