Expressionism & Expressionist artists

The modern art/contemporary art movement of Expressionism commenced in 1905. The major names in Expressionism were the likes of Edvard Munch, Franz Von Stuck, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Max Weber, Amedeo Modigliani and Max Pechstein.

In the early 1900s artists wanted the freedom to express emotion through their art. They wanted to paint their emotional response to objects and not just what they saw. The idea behind the modern art/contemporary art movement of Expressionism was that it would be the vehicle for artists to freely paint what they felt as opposed to what is actually there.

The methods artists used to emphasis and portray their emotional and subjective response to the objects they were painting were techniques such as the use of distortion, blurring, colour exaggeration and many more.

There is normally confusion regarding the difference between Expressionism and Impressionism. Expressionism concentrates on emotion. Real form is shown little consideration, the aim is to show expression. Impressionism was about painting form in a manner that shows a reflection of how the form reacts to its surroundings.

The modern art/contemporary art movement of Expressionism was very much a catalyst for modern art/contemporary art movements such as Fauvism, Post Impressionism and abstract expressionism. Expressionism started to fade away as emphasis was turned to the likes of Post Impressionism, Fauvism and Cubism.

If you found this article interesting please read the other modern art/contemporary art movement articles outlining:Post Impressionism, Cubism, Abstract art, De Stijl, Expressionism, Conceptual Art, Fauvism, Futurism, Impressionism, minimalist, Dadaism, Pop Art, Pointillism, Op Art, Abstract Expressionism, Surrealism and other modern art, contemporary art or abstract art movements.