Expressionism is a literary and artistic movement that was born in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century , whose principles are based on expressing emotions instead of trying to capture reality. This movement is a reaction to impressionism , which aims to represent the impression that reality produces on the eye.
It can be said that expressionism is a way of understanding art . Painters, writers, photographers, choreographers, filmmakers and musicians, among other artists, embraced expressionism and turned to manifestations where the inner vision of the creator stands out .
For expressionism, what is important is the subjective expression of what one feels and not describing reality objectively. In fact, his works sometimes constitute a distortion of the real plane.
The defense of individual freedom, interest in topics that are considered taboo , and the predominance of passion and emotion are some of the pillars of expressionism, which encompassed various styles.
Edvard Munch, Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee y Amedeo Modigliani son algunos de los artistas que suelen mencionarse como referentes del expresionismo ya que sus trabajos expresan los sentimientos y no se limitan a representar aquello que reflejan los senses.
It should be noted that, according to specialists, traits of expressionism could already be observed in painters who lived before the 20th century , such as Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516), El Greco (1541-1614) and Francisco de Goya (1746-1828). ). After World War II , the movement disappeared as such, although its influence extended to neo-expressionism, abstract expressionism and other trends .
Let's see below some of the characteristics of expressionism:
* subjectivity : generally, when we talk about expressionism we think of a deformation of reality in order to reflect the subjectivity of the human being. This is opposed to a faithful copy of reality or an "impression" of it, as occurs in impressionism, since it proposes looking beyond the external layer;
* historical context : it is important to understand that expressionism emerged throughout the so-called Historical Avant-garde , at the beginning of the 20th century and before the First World War broke out. It was then that a rejection of positivist philosophy (which trusted in the advances and progress of science to lead society) began to spread, and this was reflected in a pessimistic attitude and a loss of values that can be clearly seen throughout. through expressionism;
* style : although the aesthetics that can be seen in the works of the different artists who represent expressionism are very varied, something that remained firm from the beginning is the predominance of subjectivity over other factors that interested the impressionists, such as the closeness to reality and the harmony of its forms. The reason for the differences between the artists lies precisely in the fact that each one sought to capture their own vision, their unique way of seeing the scenes they painted on the canvas;
* scope : although expressionism occurred in several artistic disciplines, its emergence took place in painting, and it was in that framework where it developed the most. Among the most prominent pictorial resources of the first examples of expressionism are sensations, dynamism and color. The beginnings of expressionism were lived with great energy, since its representatives did everything possible to disseminate this new current , taking their exhibitions to various cities and, over time, crossing the borders of their own countries;
* architecture : just like painting, architecture also had its passage through expressionism, and this occurred especially in Germany, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Czechoslovakia and Austria.