German Expressionism
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Introduction
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1905-1920: German Expressionists depicted a
simple, organic symbiosis based on the rhythm of
nature alone, opposite a society ruled by Kaiser
Wilhelm II and alienated by industry
German Expressionism applied to all the arts:
fine art, literature, dance, architecture, and film
Infuenced by van Gogh, Gauguin, Delaunay,
Ensor, and Munch.
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Delaunay’s
Champ
des Mars:
The Red
Tower
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Representatives of Modern Art

Die Brucke in Dresden, tried to capture
sensory experiences and visual
impressions directly

Der Blaue Reiter Munich, intellectual and
determined by manifestos
and written statements
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Overview of Expressionism

Themes
Nudes
feeling
Man
and
natur
e
distortions
lines
Carnivals
imagination
violence
anguish
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Die Brucke (the Bridge)

1905: four students
of architecture in
Dresden formed a
group and called it
Die Brucke:
Kirchner, Heckel,
Schmidt-Rottluf and
Bleyl
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Kirchner:
The Red
Tower in
Halle 1915
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Kirchner:
Women in
the Street
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Kirchner
Leading personality of Die Brucke artists
 Broad contours, use of black, dark shades,
sharp contrasts in his theme of the city
 Nervous, angular, short brush strokes
 Merges figures into masses

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Erich
Heckel:
Nude
with Fish
and
Birds
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The Blaue Reiter (Blue
Horsemen) of Munich 1911
Individuals (unlike close group of Die
Brucke in Dresden)
 Examples: Wassily Kandinsky and Franz
Marc
 Started with exiled Russians, then attracted
painters, art historians, dancers, musicians,
and writers.
 Intellectual, diverse, spiritual,
psychological

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Wassily Kandinski
Used war themes
 As a musician, he saw music in his art
 Thought color evoked emotion
 Formal elements of line, shape, form, and
color communicated all
 Believed in spiritual power of art

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Franz Marc
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Franz Marc
Suffered from depression
Expressed inner state
Pantheistic vision of nature: animals
possessed godliness that man had lost
“But animals with their virginal sense of life
awakened all that was good in me.”
Developed theory of color symbolism;
wanted to evoke metaphysical realms
through specific color
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The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Released in 1920
 Director: Robert Wiene
 Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz, writers
 Based on experiences: at a fair in Hamburg
and a military event
 Framing story added by studio
 Filmed in Germany

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Summary
Caligari is an example of German
Expressionism
 Stylized, rather than realistic, settings,
lighting, and acting
 Three artists designed sets
 Few right angles, floors slope, windows
are wider at the top than at the bottom,
misshapen doors open crazily, and jagged
lines and oblique angles dominate settings.

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World of the Mind
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Expressionistic images in the film represent the
world as seen by the mind rather than the
objective “real” world
Raises questions:
Does framing device make distortions signify the
view of an insane man?
Or, does the design reflect distortions of a world
dominated by unreasonable authority?
The setting does not change for the epilogue (the
true view) at the end of the movie.
International Film historians indicated in 1958:
Caligari is one of the 12 best films of all time
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