Expressionism and its Origins
Expressionism is an art movement that emerged in the early twentieth century (1905-1940) and mostly dominated the field of drawing. Antonin Matjck coined the word Expressionism in 1910 to distinguish it from the Impressionist movement that flourished in the second half of the nineteenth century. This movement's artists refuse to portray reality in their work; everything becomes blurred, and their works are marked by emotional agony and nostalgic instability (Bassie 9).
Photography can catch some momentum, so the reality isn't needed. There is no interest in the actual appearance of an object or the realistic description of an event, but what these may cause to our soul.
Development in Germany
Expressionism developed in Germany, and more specifically in the cities of Dresden and Munich, and affected mainly poetry and painting. The two main groups of artists were Die Brucke (The Bridge) and Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). In 1905, when fauvism made its appearance in Paris, a small group of painters and architecture students established the first group. The most important representatives of The Bridge are Ernst Kirchner and Erich Heckel. The name was chosen because they wanted to underline that their movement will become a bridge to unite all artists who wished to oppose to Impressionism. In contrast to Impressionism they seek the spontaneous, direct expression of a personal experience. Therefore, they believed that they had to return to the origins of art, to a primitive form of expression (Bassie 65).
They used bold colors and strong outlines which distort a figure or an object. An example of this raw technique is Kirchner's Vier Hlzplastiken (1912) which depicts four women in total distortion. Their works often depicted scenes on the streets filled with anxiety or violent scenes which often include sex references. A characteristic painting is Kirchner's Self-Portrait as a Soldier (1915).
The Bridge: Erich Heckel's "The Lying Girl"
The Lying Girl (1909) belongs to Erich Heckel and it is a characteristic example of the principles governing the expressionistic group The Bridge. It is located in the Museum of Modern Art in Munich. Heckel is clearly influenced by the French school of fauvism, but uses bolder colors and distorted lines. In this painting, he presents an ordinary, everyday scene of a naked woman which lies on her couch. However, the notion of perspective is also distorted and the naked figure comes to the forefront and becomes an unconventional, mystical creature.
The Blue Rider: A New Aesthetic Theory
The group of Blue Rider was founded in Munich in 1911. Its artists did not always criticize social phenomena but developed a new aesthetic theory. Their theories on colors, form, and their qualities created the impetus for the development of Abstract Expressionism. This group denied everything rationalistic and established art as a form of internal impulse. The most important artists of the Blue Rider are Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, and Paul Klee. The name was chosen as blue according to Kandinsky’s theory is the most spiritual color and the image of a rider is linked to continuous movement (Hollmann 12). Franz Marc created multiple painting with blue horses such as The Little Blue Horses (1911).
Abstract Expressionism: Kandinsky's Theory on Colors and Shapes
Kandisky’s theory on colors and shapes formed a new road for the artists that worked after the two World Wars. For Kandinsky, the square expresses stability and a combination between warm and cold. A circle is characterized by a cold direction, while the triangle reveals warmth. A horizontal line depicts a cold situation and a vertical a warm one. In addition, a diagonal line combines the two conditions, depending on its direction. Finally, this theory connected the three basic shapes with the three basic colors; a square is linked to red, a circle to blue, and a triangle is paired to yellow. Most of his works are studies of color and shape such as Aquarelle 6 (1913) and Study for Improvisation V (1910).
Kandinsky’s Yellow-Blue-Red (1925) is a lesson to his advance theory of colors and shapes. Currently, it is disposed in the Musée National d’Art Moderne George Pompidou in Paris. The use of primary colors inside strong black outlines and shaped which interlink and create relationships between them offer the opportunity to the viewer to think what emotions are provoked (Kandinsky 45). The painting is aesthetically divided into two vertical zones. The left side uses the principal shapes, rectangles, circles, and triangles, while the other mixes curved lines and more abstract shapes. In addition, the right side includes a darker palette in the choice of colors. The artist presents an alternation of physiological disposition towards life through a drawing lesson.
Differences Between The Bridge and The Blue Rider
Although the two movements belong to Expressionism, they represent a totally different perspective. They both deal with the expression of feelings, of alienation in the contemporary era, but in a different manner. In fact, the Blue Rider was founded as an abstract counterpart of the Bridge, in order to present a less distorted style but a quest for spirituality. The artists forming the Bridge had not received formal education in visual arts and they were united to present raw emotion, distortion of everyday life, and they did not agree with abstraction. These principles are obvious in Heckel works Stehendes Kind (1910) and Reading Woman (1920). On the other hand, inside the Blue Rider, there were different opinions and aims. Their common point was their wish to express spiritual truth and to promote art to the next level. They published its manifesto in 1906, while the Blue Rider never did. They presented only Kandinsky’s treatise 'Concerning the Spiritual Art' in 1910. Therefore, the result in their works varies frequently. For example, both Kandinsky and Klee study shapes, but the result in Kandinsky's Circles in a Circle (1910) is different than Klee's Föhn im Marc'schen Garten (1915) because he used a brighter color palette and clearer geometric shapes. Finally, the artists in the Blue Rider strongly believed in the connection of music with visual arts, a fact proved by the titles on some of their works such as Kandinsky's Composition 6 (Gombrich 570).
Impact and Legacy
The Bridge and the Blue Rider are the main Expressionist groups in the beginning of the 20th century. What intrigued me is that they gave the impetus to several art movements of the twentieth century to renounce any sense of conservatism, to support art in a social context, and to open the road to performing arts. They presented a different approach to the same subject and they became the protagonists in the creation of a different style in painting, away from realistic representations. The notion of abstract owes its existence in art to the first experiments performed by the groups of artists forming the movement of Expressionism.
Works Cited
Bassie, Ashley. Expressionism. New York: Parkstone Press Ltd. 2008. Print.
Gombrich, Ernst. The Story of Art. London: Phaidon, 1951. Print.
Hollmann, Eckhard. The Blue Rider. New York: Prestel Publishing. 2011. Print.
Kandinsky, Wassily. Concerning the Spiritual Arts. New York: Dover Publications. 1977. Print.
