EXPRESSIONISM RE-CAP - MRS. MELO’S NOTES
These notes are in addition to your classmates’ handouts.
Expressionism
When: turn of the twentieth century, i.e. early 1900s
Where: began in Germany, but spread throughout Europe, primarily France.
What: Artists tried to communicate strong personal and emotional feelings to the
viewer. Within Expressionism, sub-movements developed such as Die
Brücke, Der Blaue Reiter, Fauvism, Mexican Mural Movement.
Edvard Munch (1863-1944)
Germany
"Sickness, insanity and death were the angels that surrounded my cradle and
they have followed me throughout my life." - Munch
Considered one of the fathers of Expressionism.
Munch’s expressionist style developed out of family tragedies - the loss of his
mother at the age of 5 and his sister nine years later both to tuberculosis. As a result
of these tragedies, Munch becomes obsessed with death and the themes of tragedy
and anxiety recur throughout his paintings.
Characteristics
Subject Matter:
 Death, dying and grief
 Anxiety, loss and abandonment
 Loneliness
Compositions:
 Strong diagonals
 Dark, gloomy shapes and figures
 Textured brushstrokes
The Cry, 1893
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Paula Modersohn-Becker
NOTES BASED ON RESEARCH BY MICHAEL LY 2010
Artists who inspired Modersohn-Becker:
Cezanne:
 rich colours and flat patches of gradually changing colours
 use of line to break up the value and colours
Gauguin:
 influence seen in Modersohn-Becker’s simplified and outlined paintings.
Paula Modersohn-Becker Characteristics
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empathic and warm portrayal of the female form
often depicted women with their babies along with other representations of old
women and poor children
painted a lot of self-portraits and still life, often with plants, flowers, and fruits
exotic and bright colour palette
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EXPRESSIONISM RE-CAP - MRS. MELO’S NOTES
These notes are in addition to your classmates’ handouts.
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simplified forms and flat shapes
applied her bright colours in a two-dimensional manner to get a very expressive yet
very simple illustration
landscape is prominent to her work, reduced landscapes to distinctive features
Paula Modersohn-Becker , Self-Portrait
on her Sixth Wedding Day, 1906.
- This is another painting that reflected ModersohnBecker as trying to become a woman and an artist.
She painted herself pregnant while in reality, she
wasn’t.
- In the painting she engraves “I painted this at age
thirty on my sixth wedding day. P.B.” The age of thirty
has a huge importance for her, because its at this age
that she told herself that she would dedicate herself
fully to painting
- She is standing up-right, dignified with one arm
resting on her pregnant stomach
- Later that year, after painting this
painting, she got pregnant with her
daughter, Mathilde (Tillie) Modersohn
Paula Modersohn-Becker , Self-Portrait with Camellia
Branch, 1907.
- Often paints herself in a full frontal position with her head titled as well her
figure bleeds off the canvas, and this gives her a strong physical presence as
well as involvement
- In almost all of her self-portraits, her eyes are usually large and dark. Her
stare seems mesmerizing yet detached
- Within her self portrays she wants the viewer to see that there is a woman
that wants to become somebody, and want to create something that is her own. This reflects
Paula’s own life as she’s always trying to forge her own identity as a woman and as an artist.
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EXPRESSIONISM RE-CAP - MRS. MELO’S NOTES
These notes are in addition to your classmates’ handouts.
Die Brücke [The Bridge] (1905-1913)
“A bridge to a better future”
Who were the members? Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Emil Nolde, amongst.
Where did it begin? Dresden, Germany
Inspired by? Munch, van Gogh and Gauguin
What: A small group who rejected academic training in art and all traditional forms
of expression.
Interested in:
- Woodcut and graphic means of expression
- African art, especially the masks and carvings
- Emphasized violent colour
- Distortion of features
- Expresses their discontent with the economic and social conditions in Germany
prior to World War I
Der Blaue Reiter [The Blue Rider] (1911-1914)
Who were the members? Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky, amongst others.
Where: Munich, Germany
What: A small group of artist who were not social revolutionaries.
Interested in?
- expressing spiritual truths
- connection between visual art and music
- spiritual and symbolic associations of colour
- spontaneous, intuitive approach to painting.
- medieval and primitive art
The movement ended due to the outbreak of the First World War - Franz Marc
was killed in combat and Wassily Kandinsky was forced to move back to
Russia since Russians were Allies.
Fauvism (1901-1906)
Who: Young artists between 1901-06 were inspired by the freedom, colour and the
individuality of Cezanne, van Gogh and Gauguin.
What: They developed a style that used bright colour and painterly brushstrokes for
expressive purposes. A shocked critic described the paintings as being done by “wild
beasts” which in French means Fauves. The artists embraced the name and called
their style Fauvism.
Where: Paris, France
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EXPRESSIONISM RE-CAP - MRS. MELO’S NOTES
These notes are in addition to your classmates’ handouts.
Henri Matisse (1869-1954), French Fauvist
Leader of The Fauves
NOTES BY SILVIA POON 2010
Artists who inspired Matisse:
- Pablo Picasso- They shared a cautious friendship and they both have
similarities in both of their artwork, as if they both tried to interpret similar
subjects but in their own style.
- Paul Cezanne- simplified art pieces and still life paintings.
- Vincent Van Gogh- use of colour, organization of spatial planes, and paintings
of interior views.
Characteristics:
 Rich, bold and intense use in colour
 Bold brushstrokes
 Lack of shadows & value changes in paintings
 Flattened effect on canvas
 Pencil sketching are strongly outlined
 Use of lines to create sense of movement
 Distortion of shapes
 Female models
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Modigliani
Characteristics
 Elongated necks and faces
 Mask -like appearance of the face
 Large spaces, flat areas of colour
 Impassive facial expressions
 Warm palette colours (in his subjects)
 Portrait paintings and nudes
Artworks
Modigliani, Portrait of Women in Hat (Jeanne Hebuterne in Large
Hat), 1917
Flat forms and shapes, large panels of colour (Jeanne is painted in warm tones)
Face is long, stylized with African art influence
Subject is stylized in a cubist manner
Modigliani, Reclining Nude, 1917
Stylish arrangement of curved lines
Flat panels of warm colours
Elongated facial features
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EXPRESSIONISM RE-CAP - MRS. MELO’S NOTES
These notes are in addition to your classmates’ handouts.
Painting gives feelings of female sexuality and liberty
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EXPRESSIONISM RE-CAP - MRS. MELO’S NOTES
These notes are in addition to your classmates’ handouts.
Mexican Mural Movement
NOTES BY NICOLE BRYCZKOWSKI 2O10
“We condemn so-called easel painting and all the art produced by
ultra-intellectual circles on the grounds that it is aristocratic, and
we glorify the expression of monumental Art because it is publics
property." - David Alfaro Siqueiros
Where did it begin? Mexico City, Mexico
When did it begin? 1920s - 1940s
What were their interests? They were interested in the solid feeling of preColumbian figures and the powerful colours and forms of German expressionism.
What was their goal? To educate the illiterate population, and to help rebuild the
nation by expressing Mexico’s strengths through murals of history, people, society,
and the revolution.
Who were they? Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros
Influence? They were influenced by the fall of their dictator, Porfirio Diaz, which
gave them the opportunity to express themselves sufficiently through their art. They
took this opportunity to develop their own national style “of the people.”
Historical Context
1910: Revolution in Mexico
 There was much instability in Mexican politics after Porfirio Diaz was
overthrown from his 40-year reign in Mexico.
 A bloody war ensued in Mexico shortly as revolutionary leaders Venustiano
Carranza, General Alvaro Obregon, Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, disagreed
many times in terms of who would be a suitable president.
 By the time Alvaro Obregon was elected as president in 1920, most revolution
violence had ceased, but Mexico was in a state of chaos. Because of this chaos, as
well as social disorganization, danger and economic disaster, Mexican citizens
fled their country.
As an ambitious cultural plan, the government declared that public works of vibrant
art could help restore the Mexico from its frayed state. They believed art had a sort
of social influence and could educate the illiterate population
 of Mexico.
 The government proceeded in encouraging Mexican artists who fled abroad, to
return to Mexico to paint vibrant and expressive murals on undecorated
government buildings
 Many artists incorporated German expressionism by expressing the emotional
stresses of modern Mexican life brought on by issues such as the Revolution of
1910.
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EXPRESSIONISM RE-CAP - MRS. MELO’S NOTES
These notes are in addition to your classmates’ handouts.
Diego Rivera (1886-1957) BY NICOLE BRYCZKOWSKI 2O10
Characteristics
 Fresco technique
 Simple outlined forms
 Solid, bulky and rounded figures
 Heavy and simple cloth folds
 His artworks included either historical, social or critical themes
 He also depicted Mexican life and history
 Figures are shaded in a traditional way to create a feeling of roundness and
dimension.
Diego Rivera, The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City, 1931.
 Worker in the background symbolizes a technology planned and workercontrolled industrial city.
 The workers are depicted as sovereign; they are self-governing.
 There is a fresco being painted within the fresco itself.
 Diego Rivera himself is situated in the painting, watching his assistants.
 He creates an ideal setting where everyone works together in harmony.
Diego Rivera, Liberation of the Peon, 1931.
 This painting portrays a political protest against the exploitation of farm
laborers. It symbolizes the end of the inhumanity of landowners and the
beginning of a sense of freedom, political rights, land ownership and
education of the oppressed farm workers.
 The burning buildings represent the end of oppressive land owning.
 The revolutionists involved are surrounding a beaten peon (a farm laborer).
 Each revolutionist is involved in an activity. One is cutting the peon’s bonds,
another holds his body, and the third is covering the peon’s naked body.
 It can also be seen as allegorical to the biblical story of Jesus’ descent from
the cross.
Diego Rivera. Man, Controller of the Universe, 1934.
 The young figure of a man symbolically controls the universe by
manipulating technology
 There are four great ellipses. One pair shows the living organisms seen
through the microscope in the man’s right hand. The other pair shows space
viewed through the giant telescope above the subject’s head.
 The fruits and vegetables symbolize agricultural efforts.
 He expresses his distaste towards politicians as he depicts them debauching
themselves in a nightclub underneath disease causing cells in the ellipse
above. This distaste was caused by an event in which a US commissioner, D.
Rockefeller Jr. destroyed one of Rivera’s incomplete murals.
 He addresses the issue of militarism and unrest in the top left corner.
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