expressionists

Expressionism is a modernist movement that emerged in the early 20th century, principally in Germany and Austria, influencing painting, literature, theatre, film, music, and architecture. It foregrounds subjective experience and emotional truth over naturalistic depiction, often employing distorted forms, bold color, and dynamic compositions to convey inner feelings such as fear, alienation, or spiritual longing.

Originating in the years before World War I, Expressionism coalesced around two artist groups: Die Brücke (The Bridge), founded in 1905 in Dresden, and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), formed in 1911 in Munich. Both movements reacted against academic realism and impressionism, with aims to capture existential angst and the pace of modern life. Their members sought a direct, visceral visual language and were influenced by primitivism, symbolism, and psychoanalytic ideas.

In painting, Expressionism favored jagged lines, contorted figures, and intense, sometimes unnatural color to externalize inner states. Notable artists include Die Brücke members Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, and Emil Nolde; Der Blaue Reiter artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, and August Macke. Though the movement was rooted in Europe, its imagery and sensibilities spread widely through painting, printmaking, and illustration.

Expressionist influence extended to literature, theatre, and film. In literature, writers focusing on inner experience and social critique include Georg Heym, Else Lasker-Schüler, and Alfred Döblin. In cinema, German Expressionist film developed stylized sets, chiaroscuro lighting, and distorted perspective to externalize psychological states, with landmark works such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and Nosferatu (1922), and later Metropolis (1927).

Its legacy persisted through the interwar period and influenced later movements such as New Objectivity, Surrealism, and American Abstract Expressionism. Expressionism is often viewed as a response to modern urban alienation and the trauma of war, seeking an art that communicates subjective truth beyond surface appearances.