Famous Expressionism Paintings – Exploring the Best Expressional Art

Famous Expressionism artworks are venerated in art history, owing primarily to the mysterious individuals that arose from the movement at the beginning of the 20th century. Expressionist paintings are intensely intimate and personal depictions of what the creator observes in the world around them. Expressional art is distinguished by sweeping brush strokes, vibrant color bursts, and abstracted forms. Instead of depicting actual reality, it sought to convey it expressively.

An Introduction to Famous Expressionism Artworks

Shifts in creative techniques and vision erupted across Europe around the beginning of the century in reaction to huge societal developments. New technology and major modernization efforts changed people’s worldviews, and artists represented the cognitive effect of these changes by shifting away from a literal depiction of what they observed and more towards a psychological and emotional interpretation of how the environment impacted them through their expressional artworks.

The word “Expressionism” is believed to have originated from Antonin Matejcek, an art historian, who created the term to indicate the complete reverse of Impressionism.

Although the Impressionists used to produce to communicate the grandeur of creation and the physical body, the artists of Expressionist paintings, as per Matejcek’s words, used paint to convey solely inner life, frequently via the depiction of brutal and harsh topics. It should be emphasized, though, that neither Die Brücke nor related sub-movements ever identified as creators of Expressionist paintings, and that the term was extensively used in the initial part of the century to describe a range of genres, even Post-Impressionism.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner‘s poster for the exhibition for the artists’ group “Die Brücke” at the Arnold Gallery Dresden, 1910; Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Famous Expressionism Paintings

Expressional art may be extremely wide and challenging to define. It encompasses several nations, techniques, ideologies, and time periods. Expressionism artworks were therefore characterized as a means of communication and sociological reflection rather than by a system of stylistic ideals. The following are ten famous Expressionism paintings that exemplify the expressive and lively character of the period.

The Scream (1893) by Edvard Munch

The Scream is essentially a personal and expressional artwork based on Munch’s true encounter of a piercing scream cutting through the environment while on a stroll, after his two friends, shown in the distance, had departed him.

Munch represents the noise in a way that, when taken to excesses, may shatter personal character, reflecting the reality that the noise must have been experienced at a moment when his psyche was in an unstable state.

The sweeping curves symbolize a subjective logical fusion forced on nature, in which the variety of specifics is merged into a whole of organic inspiration with feminine undertones. However, mankind is a component of the natural world, and incorporation into such a wholeness annihilates individuality.

The Scream (1910) by Edvard Munch; Edvard Munch, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Beginning about this period, Munch began to include these themes into several of his paintings, albeit only in restricted or modified forms. However, in showing his own horrific experiences, he has let go and let the front character get twisted by his subjective view of the flowing of nature; The Scream may be understood as reflecting the misery of this unifying factor obliterating human identity.

Importantly, despite the fact that the protagonist is based on Munch, he shows no similarity to him or anybody else.

Several factors demonstrate that Munch was well aware of the dangers of such work for disturbed artists like himself. He quickly discarded the approach and seldom, if ever, exposed a front figure to such extreme and methodical deformation again.

Hans Tietze and Erica Tietze-Conrat (1909) by Oskar Kokoschka

Hans and Erica Tietze, Viennese art scholars, commissioned the 23-year-old Kokoschka to create a marital picture for their mantle in 1909. Mrs. Tietze noted that she and her spouse were done separately, as shown by their distinct attitudes and glances. Kokoschka employed thin layers of color to generate the foggy environment enveloping the lovers, then scratched the color with his fingertips to convey a sensation of sizzling excitement. The Tietze’s sold this picture to the Museum in 1939, barely one year after the pair moved to New York. The Tietze’s were well-known art historians.

Kokoschka’s focus on their anxious, delicate hands hints at the two’s characters, which the painter defined as “enclosed personas so fraught with tensions.”

The Tietze’s may have been social and prominent art historians in their day, but Kokoschka bypasses their public personalities to discover a subtle sensitivity in their private connection. Erica stares out at us; Hans glances at her hand and gestures towards it without reaching it, forming a curve with his hands as well as her arm that is interrupted at its apex by a thin space, a metaphysical discharge of energy.

The duo emerges from a glistening foundation of russets and dark blues, where their contours appear to blend in spots. Scuffs in the thinner oil, produced with the designer’s fingernails, create a pattern of ethereal half-marks surrounding the characters, a faint aura of sparkling intensity.

Kokoschka, along with his Viennese colleague Egon Schiele, attempted to exceed scholastic conventions with the art of physical and emotional immediacy – “to depict the image of humans living.”

Large Blue Horses (1911) by Franz Marc

This Expressionism artwork, which depicts three brightly colored blue steeds staring down before a scene of undulating red-colored hills, is distinguished by its use of primary colors, clarity, and a powerful feeling of emotions. The horses’ highly simple and curved shapes are repeated in the patterns of the surrounding terrain, combining the creatures and forming a forceful and appealing dynamic whole. The curving lines used to illustrate the topic are supposed to express “a sensation of harmony, tranquility, and symmetry” in a spiritually pristine wildlife world, and that observing allows humans to share this harmonious relationship.

Marc assigned the colors he employed in his art a psychological or emotional significance or intent: blue symbolized the masculine and divinity, yellow symbolized feminine delight, and red encapsulated the noise of brutality. 

Large Blue Horses (1911) by Franz Marc; Franz Marc, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Marc utilized blue to symbolize mysticism throughout his profession, and his choice of brilliant hue is regarded to have been an effort to reject the physical world in order to conjure a metaphysical or transcendent core. This is one of the artist’s first big works representing animals, and it is the most notable of his collection of portraiture of horses in varied hues. Jean Bloé Niestlé, a Swiss painter, pushed Marc to “encapsulate the soul of the creature.”

The sensation created by the subject matter, according to Franz Marc, is more significant than zoological correctness.

Houses at Night (1912) by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

Schmidt-Rottluff came to Berlin after he co-founded the Dresden-based Die Brücke, where he created this abstract portrayal of a row of houses. The structures wobble apart at weird angles over a hauntingly deserted street, symbolizing modern metropolitan society’s isolation. Despite the fact that Schmidt-Rottluff created Houses at Night, the impact of woodblock printing is obvious; the abstract, minimalistic forms have a sharp and visual aspect comparable to the creator’s many print pieces.

The brilliant colors complement the canvas’s crude contours, suffusing the image with an underlying feeling of discomfort and strangeness.

The constant unease was the core of contemporary, metropolitan life. For Expressionists, the pervading unease constituted the core of the modern, metropolitan universe. The creator’s avant-garde viewpoint of the street scene was highlighted by the use of sharp shapes and brilliant, acidified color schemes. The protruding angular patterns in this picture are reminiscent of the perplexing set designs for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a renowned Expressionist film created eight years later.

Robert Wiene, the film’s director, used the warped viewpoint of Expressionist art to portray the fear of a village tormented by a killer.

Street, Berlin (1913) by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Kirchner displays a bustling city scene with men and people walking down the road. Kirchner depicts two ladies in the front, and their forms take up a substantial section of the work, making them the painting’s central focus. The lady on the left is dressed in a violet gown, a bright contrast to the largely black attire of the males who surround the duo. The males in the backdrop lack distinguishing characteristics and appear to be carbon copies of one another.

Their clothing blends into one another, and their non-distinctive face characteristics draw you in since they are the only two with a feeling of individuality.

Kirchner used some non-naturalistic colors in this painting, such as the flesh of the characters, which changes between orange and pinkish colors, and also the pink and blue hues in the surroundings. The non-naturalistic qualities are prevalent in German Expressionism and his other works from this time. Kirchner’s brushstrokes are free and transparent.

Street, Berlin (1913) by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner; Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The brush strokes give a feeling of movement, adding a feeling of busyness to the streetscape. The perspective’s downward tilt and the contrasting diagonal lines in the brushstrokes produce deformation and a sensation of movement. The observer is accosted by the individuals on the road as if they are going to flow out of the painting and then into your environment. This artistic decision also brings you closer to the ladies while moving you away from the faceless masculine characters in the distance.

Expressionist principles in German painting may be traced all the way back to Grünewald and Kandinsky, and Kirchner expands on the notion of dramatic brushstrokes and motion in his own works.

The Cyclist (1913) by Natalia Goncharova

A bike sprints through a cobbled road in front of a contemporary commercial highway with advertising and road signs.  The biker accelerates, his pointed workers’ cap transforming his forehead into a circular shape like the street’s cobblestones. His lowly cap contrasts with the shiny black bowler hat, the greatest sign of fashionable aristocracy, and the lettering in the same end section plays on language.

The top hat mirrors the curve of and serves as one of the letters in the word for “hat” in Russian.

The Cyclist (1913) by Natalia Goncharova; Natalia Goncharova, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The painter duplicated the biker’s legs, feet, and torso, as well as the chassis and tires of the bike, to represent not only forward velocity but also the up-down oscillations of the tires hitting the cobblestone streets. The Russian symbols that spell “silk,” “hat,” and “thread” may allude to the creator’s conceptual design and expertise in fabrics.

Furthermore, the plainly visible and solitary “Я “, which is “I” in Russian, is a form of creator’s signature.

Sitting Woman with Legs Drawn Up (1917) by Egon Schiele

The use of orange and green hues creates an eye-catching juxtaposition, giving this artwork considerable punch. The backdrop for this image is quite calm and intimate to the artist, giving us a glimpse into his private affairs. Edith sits on the ground, lazily relaxing. During this period, Egon created a number of portraits in comfortable postures.

In his lifetime, Schiele created a plethora of sensual art, but in this case, he opted to fully clothe his spouse.

This is most likely due to frequent interference with his works – he was, for example, jailed multiple times on allegations of lude paintings. It is terrible that any painter would be hampered in this manner, but Schiele did not improve his situation by associating himself with women who were frequently in their teenage years, which definitely fueled rumors about his personal life.

Seated Woman with Bent Knees (Adele Herms) (1917) by Egon Schiele; Egon Schiele, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schiele was a superb sketcher who would first lay out the shapes of his portrait subjects before adding color to finish the picture. In this example, he opts for a more varied palette than usual, including a black hue as well as blues, greens, and oranges. His wife is sitting on the ground, her head rested on her knee, and she is looking at him with a fearless stare. The painter liked to bend his figures into all sorts of weird positions, and he infrequently used more standard portraiture setups.

This was one instance of how his work was completely modern, and it inspired many others in the first part of the 20th century.

Portrait of a Man (c. 1918) by Erich Heckel

Heckel was a founder artist of the artistic movement known as Die Brücke, which began in Dresden in 1905. Painters in that school opposed the dominant conventional style in lieu of a new aesthetic statement that would serve as a bridge between the old and the new. Woodblock printing has a rich tradition in Germany, dating back to the 15th century; Heckel and his collaborators at Die Brücke resurrected the method, creating a massive quantity of woodcut images.

Heckel worked extensively with woodblock printing and was drawn to the method first for its pure emotionalism and austere appearance, as well as its historic German pedigree.

Portrait of a Man (c. 1918) by Erich Heckel; Clark Art Institute, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

While many of Heckel’s works portray nudism and city vistas, this sad self-portrait from 1919 takes on a more contemplative theme. The model’s haggard face, deformed jaw, and tired eyes, which appear to look listlessly into the horizon, emphasize the person’s mental, emotional, and bodily exhaustion. Instead of creating a realistic self-portrait, Heckel expresses the overall attitude of his period as well as the societal fatigue of his day, both of which are prevalent subjects in famous Expressionism paintings.

Erich Heckel instantiates his own tortured visage with the tragedies of the war period and the uncertainty of the post-war era.

Mad Woman (1920) by Chaim Soutine

Regardless of the idea that Soutine’s figure compositions, like his portrayals of other topics, are marked by very distorted, aggressive brushstrokes and harsh color contrast, they are extraordinarily adept in their portrayal of their characters’ uniqueness and individuality. His portraits include a frail adolescent, the sun-burned visage of a farmer’s wife, a haughty lady of the aristocracy, and a terrified maid. The wide-eyed look, pinched face, awkwardly clenched arms and shoulders, and crazily unkempt hairstyle in Mad Woman all contribute to the piece’s strange atmosphere.

The female’s crimson dress and the coarse brushstrokes add to the overall image.

In comparison to Chagall, who had also been nurtured in a Jewish neighborhood, and Chagall’s yearning for his race and homeland, Soutine was always angry in his representation of the planet’s bursting cruelty, probably because of a persecuted mentality formed of his childhood impoverishment and tyranny. His figure compositions foreshadow Francis Bacon’s, who represented “Humanity in the misery of one’s own conditions.”

Soutine’s distortion of elements until they became the topic themselves served as a model for Jean Fautrier the famous Informalist artist.

Harold Rosenberg (1956) by Elaine de Kooning

Harold Rosenberg (1906–1978) art reviewer and writer of poetry, was best known for his dissertation The American Action Painters (1952), in which he advocated for abstract art, especially that of Willem de Kooning.

He agreed with the artist’s palette “instead of a place in which to replicate, re-design, evaluate, or ‘communicate’ a real or perceived item. What was to be painted on the painting was not a depiction, but rather an experience.”

Rosenberg and his wife, Mary Tabak, had been friends of the de Koonings ever since the 1940s, and Elaine had depicted and illustrated him several times. This is the biggest and most complicated artwork, representing the reviewer sprawled out in her workshop, covering the painting with a drink in one hand and a cigar in the other. Elaine created a balance between human resemblance and pure abstraction by combining flowing sketching with dark color and boldly brushed sections of brilliant pigments.

Famous Expressionism paintings appeared in numerous towns across Germany at the same time as a reaction to broad angst over humanity’s progressively dissonant connection with the earth, as well as associated lost emotions of integrity and soul. The emergence of Expressionism artworks signaled the establishment of new norms in the production and evaluation of art. Expressional art was now intended to emerge from inside the creator instead of from a description of the exterior visual environment, and the criteria for judging the value of a piece of artwork became the nature of the creator’s emotions rather than an examination of the arrangement.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where Does the Term “Expressionism Artwork” Originate From?

Antonin Matejcek is credited with coining the term “Expressionism.” He was an art historian who coined the word to describe the polar opposite of Impressionism. Although the Impressionists used paint to represent the grandeur of creation and the physical body, the painters of Expressionist paintings, according to Matejcek, utilized paint to convey only inner life, usually through the depiction of violence and harsh things.

What Was Unique About Famous Expressionism Art?

Unlike Impressionism’s bucolic settings and Neoclassicism’s scholarly sketches, Die Brücke painters employed deformed shapes and discordant, artificial colors to provoke the audience’s emotional reaction. A minimalist and primal aesthetic also bound the group together. It was a rebirth of ancient mediums and medieval European art, with visual methods such as woodblock printing employed to produce rough, jagged shapes.

What was Der Blaue Reiter?

The group of painters that formed Der Blaue Reiter had a preference for abstractions, figurative substance, and spiritual connotations. They attempted to portray mental aspects of existence through largely symbolic and vibrantly colored depictions. Their name was inspired by a depiction of a steed and rider from one of Wassily Kandinsky’s works.