Expressionism in Art - Assignment Example

of the of the Concerned 6 May Expressionism in Art Expressionism happened to be a modernist movement that found its nascent expression in art and poetry in Germany during the first quarter of the 19th century (Poplawski 96). Expressionism evolved as an avant-garde style a few years before the I World War. It retained its hold in Germany even during the Weimar Republic (Poplawski 96). Gradually, expressionism as an artistic style infiltrated varied other art genres like music, literature, architecture, theatre, film and dance.

As an artistic style, expressionism laid stress predominantly on the individual expression. The primary objective of the expressionist style was to register and evoke the subjective responses that the artists harbored in context of events or objects (Poplawski 96). Expressionism never intended to project a realistic and true to life picture of the objects as they existed. Expressionism always had more to do with the delicate world of feelings and emotions then to attempt a literal interpretation of the real worldly forms and events.

Expressionism relied for its strength and potency on the subtle sensitivity of an artist. Vivid colors, two dimensional subjects lacking a depth or perspectives and distortions turned out to be the hallmarks of the expressionist art (Poplawski 96). The goal of the expressionist art was to capture potent, extreme and distorted emotions that originated in an artist’s sensitive mind as it come in contact with the varied events and forms in the real world (Poplawski 97). The quintessential premise, on which expressionism was based, was the belief that an artist’s response to the real world objects and events happened to be so intense that it left an indelible mark on the form of art.

In expressionist art, the artist enjoyed a sense of freedom to exaggerate or distort the surface elements in consonance with the subjective pressures being experienced by the artist (Poplawski 97). Expressionism not only allowed an artist to express oneself, but also aspired to generate an emotional response in the viewers. To a great extent, expressionist art happened to be a reflection of its times and tended to be somewhat vivid and violent. The Dutch artist, Vincent Van Gogh and the Norwegian, Edvard Munch stand to be two of the most prominent expressionist painters.

Van Gogh and Munch tend to differ from their fellow expressionists in the sense that while the other artists happened to delve on the beauty and color of the nature and natural subjects, these two artists aspired to peep inwards to search for some sort of self expression that allowed them to afford some type of self expression in a world that they perceived to be aggressive and unaccommodating (Poplawski 307). For instance, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers opens up the eyes of the viewers towards an amazing intensity a colorful expression.

In contrast, The Scream by Munch brings out the versatility of the expressionist art by resorting to an exaggerated color scheme and distorted forms. It goes without saying that expressionism in art, rather than opting for a compromised and circuitous approach towards worldly forms and events, preferred to face the world on its own terms and conditions. Works Cited Poplawski, Paul. Encyclopedia of Literary Modernism. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003. Print.