German Expressionism And German Expressionism

Artists in the early 1900s commonly utilized techniques of distortion and exaggeration, characteristics of expressionism, to establish the element of emotion. According to Wolf (2017), expressionist artists often incorporate “swirling, swaying, and exaggeratedly executed brushstrokes to convey the turgid emotional state of the artist reacting to the anxieties of the modern world” (p. 1). Amplification of the human figure often evokes strong emotions for audiences of many different cultures. Additionally, the style reflects the consequences of urbanization, such as the alienation of individuals in society (Wolf, 2017). Expressionism allows artists to surpass realism and reflect the tribulations of living in a modern society.

German Expressionism is a kind of art that is supposed to make you feel something. When you look at a painting such as “The Scream” by Edvard Munch (1863-1944), you ask yourself what kind of emotions does this painting give you. A group of early 20th century German artists used the term “expressionism” to desribe the way they produced art. The title later turned into “German Expressionism”. This art movement was prominent during 1905-1925. In German it is known as “Die Brucke” and “Der Blaue Reiter”. Unlike Impressionism, its goals were not to reproduce the impression by the surrounding world, but to express the artists feelings on the surrounding world. Expressionism comes from the route word “expression” which

She discusses how Weimar Cinema came to be and how it did so well financially, moves onto the introduction of Expressionism into film from its origin in theater and painting, and finally describes the characteristics of Expressionism in Cinema as opposed to other artforms. From there, she discusses how the various members of the Prana cinema team came together and how their expertise contributed to the movie, how they prepared the masses for Nosferatu, and how they presented the movie. However, she provides the counterpoint of how Florence Stoker’s lawsuit against the Prana film company damaged the movie’s reputation and popularity. From there she describes how the plot of Nosferatu follows the pattern established by Noel Carroll in Philosophy of Horror of an onset phase, a discovery phase, a confirmation phase, and a confrontation phase. As the chapter progresses, Massaccesi’s description of the plot includes lengthy and in-depth analyses of each character in terms of their interactions with each other and with the setting(s). From there she considers the significance of various aspects of the film in relation to the film’s events and characters, such as camera angles and symbolic imagery, She also discusses the significance of other aspects of the film in relation to the sociopolitical situation in Germany and Europe as a whole, applying themes such as the defeat of a tyrannical villain figure or the supernatural wonder associated with Romantic artwork.

Defined by www.news.artnet.com/, German Expressionism is defined as “an artistic genre that originated in Europe in the 1920s, and is broadly defined as the rejection of Western conventions, and the depiction of reality that is widely distorted for emotional effect.” In Nosferatu, the film contains a plethora of distorted realities in an attempt to evoke the “emotional effect” from the audience. This is shown by the director of the film, F.W. Murnau’s usage of lighting and makeup & costume design.

Like many of Dix’s generation in Germany during the 1920s, he drew from the German expressionist movement in his use of distortion, directness, media and subject matter in plate 1. German expressionism involved directness, frankness and a desire to startle the viewer. Their works embraced printmaking and focused on the emotions expressed rather than reality. Dix heightens the emotions effects through his meticulous rendered, horrific images. The brilliant white bones stand out against the darker background. He experimentation with printmaking and used multiple acid baths to eat away at the image, to mimic decaying flesh. This horrifying focal point does startle the viewer through its direct disposition. Expressionists often felt the need to confront the devastating experiences of WWI, as plate 1 documents through it’s shocking yet realistic representation of the war and its effect. The common expressionist technique of distortion is utilised to exaggerate the skull and expose it as disgusting and confronting. Otto Dix’s attempt to confront the viewer through the depiction of emotions rather than reality. Dix’s incorporation of German Expressionist characteristics and techniques, the art movement of the time, in Plate 1, is a documentation of cultural art practises in the

Expressionism can be described as a movement in the fine arts that emphasized the expression of inner experience rather than realistic portrayal, looking to obtain not objective reality, but the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse in the artist. Several characteristics of expressionism are distortion, exaggeration, primitivism, and fantasy. “The Green Table,” a ballet by Kurt Jooss, 1932, is an ideal example of expressionism because it depicts the choreographer’s personal interpretation of war through the use of movement, music by Fritz Cohen and lighting by Hermann Mankard.

Art has evolved and regenerated itself many times during our human existence. These differences are defined through changes in styles under various theories. During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, a style known as Expressionism became popular. During this movement the artists were trying to use their artwork as a tool of expression toward life. It was mainly dominant in the nonrepresentational arts, such as abstract visual arts and music. It also was probably one of the most difficult movements to understand because the whole point of the piece lay within the artist. Not only was it a movement, it defined the act of art as a whole. From the beginning of time, each work of art, excluding replicas, show a way of expressing

The sturdy hand of a magnificent film architect, who expresses herself with original sculpting techniques, shapes ordinary people with all their strengths and weaknesses. Ms. Reichardt’s cinema is more meditative than rousing, elusively beautiful in its conception, and constructed further beyond artistic superficiality.

Stylistically, M appears to be a continuation of the style that was established in cinema through the German Expressionist movement and developed through the Kammerspielfilm, which focused on the actors, lighting, and set design to further investigate the psychological foundations of characters in middle and lower-class environments (150). M can be considered to be part of the third type of film that was produced during the Weimar period that is known as die neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), which portrays "fatalistic and grimy lower-class realism" through the cinematic lens (150). M is able to marry characteristics found in each of these three periods of German cinema.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari on the other hand is specifically designed during a time period that was looking at film as an art piece that with every detail on the screen being dripped with symbolism and meaning much like a painting. It is only appropriate that film experts and observers understand the full implications German Expressionism has endued in some part onto its successors of film styles. Siegfried Kracauer states that the directors at a particular point in the course of this expressionist movement realized the benefit of articulating film concepts to manifest emotion, and declare any given opinion through, “ the whole visual sphere: their outspoken feeling for impressive settings, their virtuosity in developing action through appropriate lighting” (Caligari to Hitler 3). The mise en scène factors setting and composition, are only parts that play a small role in what make this film credible for the success of the expressionist movement. These components when assimilated reveal the psychological advances and reactions that define characters, are conveyed throughout the bleak settings of the film, and exhibits the dramatic dimensions of the world created.

As we look deeper into the historical contexts that came about in Germany during the 1920’s, Germany was confined due to the isolation the country was experiencing during World War I. During this solitude, the German government banned foreign films. German Expressionism was formed in result of the conclusion of World War I which compelled Germany to establish its own style of cinema. German Expressionist films produced in the Weimar Republic

Abstract Expressionism is making its comeback within the art world. Coined as an artist movement in the 1940’s and 1950’s, at the New York School, American Abstract Expressionist began to express many ideas relevant to humanity and the world around human civilization. However, the subject matters, contributing to artists, were not meant to represent the ever-changing world around them. Rather, how the world around them affected the artist themselves. The works swayed by such worldly influences, become an important article within the artists’ pieces. Subjectively, looking inward to express the artist psyche, artists within the Abstract Expressionism movement became a part of their paintings. Making the paintings more of a representation

The expressionism period was a movement to invoke emotions through art work. In The Scream Munch stirs up emotions through his heavy brush work and the use of unnatural colors. The use of red orange or warm colors in

world as did in the Paris to New York shift of the 1940's and 1950's.

In this film Metropolis, you can obviously see how this film would be an example of a German expressionism based, off the definition given from James Monaco's film glossary. The way the movie is produced. The tone, the music and the character’s roles helped give an eye of how the film would show German expressionism. During the movie there is no talking that you could hear, there weren’t any color, just black and white, and you could see emotions and only imagine what was going on. I also feel as if this could be an example of an Expressionism because of the time period, you could see during the movie that this movie was filmed during the 20th century. Also, by the way the people dressed gave the impression that it was the 20th century.