Expressionism, movement in the arts emphasizing subjective feelings and emotions, which developed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a reaction against academic standards that had prevailed in Europe since the Renaissance (14th century to 17th century). The subjects of expressionist works were frequently exaggerated, distorted, or otherwise altered.

The term expressionism was first applied to painting in 1911 but the movement's tenets were earlier exemplified by 19th-century artists, especially Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, French artist Paul Gauguin, and Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, all of whom used violent colors and exaggerated lines to obtain intense emotional expression. The most important expressionist group was the German school, originated by a Dresden group called Die Brücke, which included painters Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein, and Otto Müller. Another group, in Munich, called Der Blaue Reiter, included German painters Franz Marc, August Macke, and Heinrich Campendonk; Swiss artist Paul Klee; and Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky. Other expressionists included Austrian painter Oskar Kokoschka, French artist Georges Rouault, Lithuanian-born French painter Chaďm Soutine, Bulgarian-born French painter Jules Pascin, and American painter Max Weber. Another more cynical phase of German expressionism called Die Neue Sachlichkeit (The New Objectivity) was founded by Otto Dix and George Grosz.

Expressionist sculptors strongly influenced by 19th-century French sculptor Auguste Rodin include Frenchman Antoine Bourdelle, Croatian Ivan Mestroviç, Briton Jacob Epstein, and German Ernst Barlach. They all distorted the human figure in their work. Expressionism in literature uses a stylized manner to produce emotional shock. The German painter Alfred Kubin was one of the earliest expressionist writers. Expressionist playwrights included Swedish dramatist August Strindberg; Germans Frank Wedekind, Georg Kaiser, and Ernst Toller; Czech Karel Capek; and Americans Eugene O'Neill and Elmer Rice. Expressionist drama, which tried to increase the audience's emotional participation in the piece, influenced new approaches to dramatic staging, scene design, and directing, as well as cinema production. Expressionism in music used musically complex and carefully structured works in which conventional techniques are distorted. Its roots can be seen in the works of German composer Richard Wagner and Austrian composer Gustav Mahler. Expressionist composers included Germans Richard Strauss and Paul Hindemith, Austrians Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg, Hungarian Béla Bartók, and Russian Sergey Prokofiev.

From: Encarta Concise Encyclopedia
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