Summary of an Essay on German Expressionism

In the early twentieth century, the Fauves, who believed color was the most important aspect of a panting, and the Post-Impressionists, such as Cézanne and Van Gogh, inspired German Expressionism. Kirchner and Nolde were two of the main Expressionist artists; their work was very similar to that of the Fauves with bright colors but their lines were much harsher. Der Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter were two movements in which the Brücke artists portrayed contorted figures and cities as chaotic and alienating and the Der Blaue Reiter artists created works with deep spiritual meaning and took influence from Cubism and Futurism. The most common subjects for Expressionist art were city life, nudes, war, religion and sex. Otto Dix, a painter, printmaker, and watercolorist, was known for his “caustic portraits of German society” and joined the army during the First World War. During the 1920 Dada movement, he exhibited a work called Kriegskrüppel (War Cripples) and contributed to a series against the war, No More War!