Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
EXPRESSIONIST STYLE
While “expressionist” is used to describe any art that avoids naturalism and instead employs a bold use of flattened forms and intense brushwork, Expressionist art formally describes early-20th-century work from Europe that drew on Symbolism and confronted issues such as urbanization and capitalism. Expressionist artists experimented in paintings and prints with skewed perspectives, abstraction and unconventional, bright colors to portray how isolating and anxious the world felt rather than how it appeared.
Between 1905 and 1920, Austrian and German artists, in particular, were inspired by Postimpressionists such as Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh in their efforts to strive for a new authenticity in their work. In its geometric patterns and decorative details, Expressionist art was also marked by eclectic sources like German and Russian folk art as well as tribal art from Africa and Oceania, which the movement’s practitioners witnessed at museums and world’s fairs.
Groups of artists came together to share and promote the themes now associated with Expressionism, such as Die Brücke (The Bridge) in Dresden, which included Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and investigated alienation and the dissolution of society in vivid color. In Munich, Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a group led by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, instilled Expressionism with a search for spiritual truths. In his iconic painting The Scream, prolific Norwegian painter Edvard Munch conveyed emotional turmoil through his depiction of environmental elements, such as the threatening sky.
Expressionism shifted around the outbreak of World War I, with artists using more elements of the grotesque in reaction to the escalation of unrest and violence. Printmaking was especially popular, as it allowed artists to widely disseminate works that grappled with social and political issues amid this time of upheaval. Although the art movement ended with the rise of Nazi Germany, where Expressionist creators were labeled “degenerate,” the radical ideas of these artists would influence Neo-Expressionism that emerged in the late 1970s with painters like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Francesco Clemente.
Find a collection of authentic Expressionist paintings, sculptures, prints and more art on 1stDibs.
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Style: Expressionist
"Whew!, " Oil Pastel on Grocery Bag Landscape signed by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Whew!" is an original oil pastel drawing on a grocery bag by Reginald K. Gee. The artist signed the piece in the lower left. It depicts a man on a motorcycle doing a wheelie on a be...
Category
Early 2000s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Oil Pastel, Found Objects
Mammy
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
hand signed
2023
21x21cm
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Oil, Paper, Tempera, Watercolor
Mid-Century Watercolor Painting Over Lithograph WPA Artist NYC Frank Kleinholz
Located in Surfside, FL
Frank Kleinholz (Brooklyn, 1901 - 1987)
1972
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
Sunset with Sailboat, Fishing trip with fish and shark
Screenprint, serigraph with hand coloring (watercolor painting) on paper.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Frank Kleinholz was a painter based in New York City whose work spanned several art movements including Expressionism and Social Realism. His work was strongly influenced by Max Beckmann, is a late survival of the social commentary expressionism of the WPA era; His early works were intensely personal and reflected the influence of the Depression and the World Wars, but his palette lightened as he increasingly focused on families and the bonds between adults and children. He was contemporary of William Gropper and Ben Shahn. As the son of a blind father and hard-working mother who supported the family with a delicatessen. From early childhood, he had to earn a living and sold newspapers and ran errands for local businesses. He graduated from Fordham Law School, and at age 23 was admitted to the bar. In the mid-1930s, while practicing insurance as well as law, he began painting and printmaking with teachers including Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Sol Wilson. He gained quick recognition and between 1941 and 1980 participated in numerous exhibitions including the National Academy of Design, the Brooklyn Museum and the Worcester Art Institute. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Kleinholz graduated Fordham Law School in 1923. In the 1930s, he began studying painting under Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Sol Wilson. He quickly rose to prominence with the inclusion of Abstract art in the Carnegie Institute exhibition of 1941. His painting Backstreet won a purchase prize by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Chronology His strongest influences were American Social Realists Reginald Marsh and Philip Evergood, the German Expressionists George Grosz and Kathe Kollwitz, the Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, Jorge Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, and the early 20th century Paris Modernists.
Described by Newsweek as a "Brooklyn-born Gauguin," Kleinholz focused on urban life in New York, Brooklyn and Coney Island, as well as intimate, social realist scenes of parents and children, flowers and birds, and sunbathers. His political works include anti war paintings...
Category
20th Century Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor, Lithograph
Aquatint Etching with Hand Watercolor Painting Jules Pascin Signed
By Jules Pascin
Located in Surfside, FL
Genre: German Expressionist
Subject: Three Noble figures, Noblesse
Medium: etching, watercolor paint (I have seen this described as an aquatint and have seen this without color, so ...
Category
Early 20th Century Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Etching
One More Time (Black Devil) Outsider Art Painting, Drawing
By Peter Dean
Located in Surfside, FL
Dean was born in 1934 of Jewish parents in a Berlin, Germany, that was falling prey to the Nazis. The family immigrated to New York City in 1938, and Dean was raised in the refugee community in Inwood. Dean's first show (ironically, in retrospect) was given him by the USIA in Brazil. In 1959, he returned to New York to work six months on, six months off in soil engineering and made art in the interims. He tried, and failed, to get into a Tenth Street Gallery. Studying painting at night with Andre Girard at City College pushed him over the edge, and in 1969 he committed himself to painting full time. Artists who impressed him in the '60s were Robert Beauchamp, Lester Johnson, Jan Muller...
Category
1980s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Oil Pastel, Acrylic
"Modella" Matita cm. 50 x 70 1962
Located in Torino, IT
Disegno espressionista
Figura femminile
Artista Italiano che ha dedicato la vita all'arte
Edgardo CORBELLI (Torino, 1918 – 1989)
MUSEI
Orléans, Francia, Musée Collégiale Saint Pier...
Category
1960s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Graphite
Expressionist Figurative water color painting- Series Bath NO.1
Located in Beijing, CN
Artist Biography
Zhang Chunyang was born in 1975 in Changchun, Jilin. She earned her B.F.A at Jilin University of Arts in 1999, and studied at Central Acadamy of Fine Arts, Beijing ...
Category
2010s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor, Gouache, Handmade Paper
"Odalisque and musician" cm. 19 x 15 1950
Located in Torino, IT
Odalisque,Musician,Guitar, interior, Harem, orient,Yellow,Orange
Giulio DA MILANO (Nizza, 1895 - Torino, 1990)
Giulio Da Milano was a Giacomo Grosso's disciple and he was very clo...
Category
1950s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Oil Pastel, Pencil
Seated Woman
By Jules Pascin
Located in New York, NY
Seated Woman by Jules Pascin (1885-1930)
Pen and ink on paper
6 ½ x 6 inches unframed (16.51 x 15.24 cm)
14 x 13 inches framed (35.56 x 33.02 cm)
Inscribed (Pascin Estate 81C) on bot...
Category
Early 20th Century Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink
Man his cigarette and his girl
Located in London, GB
Original watercolour painting on paper
hand signed
a couple watching the artist in Soho.
London busy nights out. Cigarette, wine and talks. Glances, smiles and laugh.
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Pencil
philosopher
Located in London, GB
Original pencil watercolour drawing on paper
hand signed
the eyes can tell you what the mouth will hide
2023
French boy painted at Anastasia Kurakina'...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Pencil
"Studio per costume teatrale" Balletto , Tempera cm. 33 x 25 1950
Located in Torino, IT
Studio per costume teatrale
Forse Balletto
Uccello di fuoco
Dimitri Bouchène (April 26, 1893 - March 6, 1993) is a Russian painter naturalized French in 1947.
Creator of sets an...
Category
1950s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera
Body in the Field #5 - Blue, Red, Drawing, Color pencil
Located in Berlin, DE
Body in the Field #5, 2022
coloured pencils on canvas
25 H x 16 W cm
Signed on reverse
Zsolt Berszán embodies in his works the dissolution of the human body through the prism of t...
Category
2010s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Canvas, Color Pencil
Body in the Field #4 - Green, Red, Drawing, Color pencil
Located in Berlin, DE
Body in the Field #4, 2022
coloured pencils on canvas
25 H x 16 W cm
Signed on reverse
Zsolt Berszán embodies in his works the dissolution of the human body through the prism of t...
Category
2010s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Canvas, Color Pencil
Abstract Expressionist Streets of Jerusalem Israeli Painting 1950
Located in Surfside, FL
In this painting, the artist uses geometric shapes to convey a cityscape of Jerusalem in an abstract manner.
Judaica Oil Painting depicting the streets, doors, archways and windows o...
Category
20th Century Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Canvas, Oil
laughing girl
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
28x38cm
hand signed
2023
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Ink, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil, Color Pencil
The Thief. Original Drawing.Welsh Artist. Magpie.Late 20th Century.Black & White
Located in Sutton Poyntz, Dorset
Julian Ruddock.
British ( b.1965 ).
The Thief.
Pastel on Paper. Signed.
Image size 29.1 inches x 21.3 inches ( 74cm x 54cm ).
Frame size 38.4 inches x 29.9 inches ( 97.5cm x 76cm )....
Category
Late 20th Century Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Pastel
Beautiful Blond Girl with Elves - Arts and Crafts - Glasgow Girls
Located in Miami, FL
A fantasy scene with Elves and a beautiful girl lost in thought at the base of a tree. Elizabeth Mary Watt, G.S.W.A. In 1919, she was elected as ...
Category
1920s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Watercolor, Pigment
Russian boy
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
30x40cm
hand signed
2022
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil, Paper, Tempera, Watercolor
Seven Geishas, Painting by Walasse Ting
By Walasse Ting
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Walasse Ting, Chinese/American (1929 - 2010)
Title: Seven Geishas with Flowers
Year: circa 1980
Medium: Chinese Ink and Acrylic on Rice Paper, Stamped upper middle
Paper Size...
Category
1980s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Rice Paper, Acrylic
smiling boy
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
28x38cm
hand signed
2023
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Paper, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil
Untitled
Located in L'HOSPITALET DE LLOBREGAT, ES
Ink and watercolor on paper
Signed lower right.
Dimensions:
19 7/10 × 13 4/5 in
50 × 35 cm
Category
1970s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
smiling girl
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
28x38cm
hand signed
2023
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil
Poet
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
28x38cm
hand signed
2023
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil
dreamy boy
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
17x30cm
hand signed
2023
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Color Pencil, Paper, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil
Young Picasso portrait
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
28x38cm
hand signed
2023
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Color Pencil, Watercolor
portrait of a boy
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
hand signed
2022
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor
Blue Faun
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
hand signed
2023
17x30cm
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil
painter
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
hand signed
2023
17x30cm
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor, Ink, Oil
Dancer
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
hand signed
2023
35x50cm
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil, Color Pencil
British boy
Located in London, GB
pencil on paper
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Pencil
cry in the wilderness a little girl consumed by grief
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Soft pastel on toned paper signed and dated by the artist depicting a small child being carried by relatives at what appears to be a funeral parlor.
Category
Early 2000s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pastel, Archival Paper
pianist portrait
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper
hand signed
2023
17x30cm
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Ink, Tempera, Watercolor
MARYAN - ORIGINAL DRAWING - PORTRAIT
Located in Tel Aviv - Jaffa, IL
Ink on paper
Hand signed and dated lower right
Unique piece
Category
1970s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink
To School in Llanfihangel. First Day at School, Rural Wales. Ceredigion & Powys.
Located in Sutton Poyntz, Dorset
Julian Ruddock.
British ( b.1965 ).
To School in Llanfihangel. (First Day at School).
Pastel on Paper. Signed.
Image size 21.7 inches x 29.6 inches ( 55cm x 75cm ).
Frame size 29 in...
Category
Late 20th Century Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Pastel
Self Portrait
Located in New York, NY
Lester Johnson Self Portrait 1969 drawn with ink, crayon, and spray enamel on paper. Measuring 14 by 11 inches, this drawing was recently professionally framed.
Category
1960s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Enamel
Persian
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor on paper
17x30cm
2023
hand signed
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Ink, Tempera
Blue Period artist as subject humorous observation coll blue and Grey tones
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Soft pastel on archival toned paper signed and dated top left. Part of an ongoing series by the artist of artist and model subject matter
Category
2010s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pastel, Archival Paper
Emmilyia
Located in London, GB
original watercolor on paper
17x30cm
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor
naked woman
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor is sold
2023
hand signed limited edition print on demand is available
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Color, Digital
two girls
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor paper
27x45cm
2019
hand signed
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
sea lovers
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor on paper
2019
hand signed
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
portrait of a boy
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor, tempera on paper
50x31cm
2022-2023
hand signed
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Tempera, Paper, Watercolor
Sketch Idea for Metropolis - German Expressionism - 1926
By Otto Dix
Located in London, GB
OTTO DIX 1891-1969
Gera 1891-1969 Singen (German)
Title: Sketch Idea for Metropolis | Ideenskizze zu einem Großstadtbild, 1926
Technique: Coloured Pencil and Pencil Drawing on Wo...
Category
1920s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
Tom
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor paper
26x31cm
2023
hand signed
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pen, Paper, Tempera, Watercolor
Ana
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor paper
27x34cm
2021-2023
hand signed
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor
Andrew
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor, tempera on paper
35x50cm
satrted in Paris in 2018-
finished in London in 2023
hand signed
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor
portrait of smiling boy
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor on paper
26x24cm
2023
hand signed
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Tempera, Paper, Watercolor
portrait of a boy
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor, tempera on paper
25x35cm
2023
hand signed
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor
Antoni
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor on paper
2019
hand signed
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Yo
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor on paper
2019
hand signed
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Woman trying on a pearl earring
Located in London, GB
Original watercolor on paper
32x45cm
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil
"Melon Scope, " Original Pastel Drawing signed by Della Wells
By Della Wells
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Melon Scope" is an original pastel drawing on paper by Della Wells. The artist signed the piece in the lower right. This work depicts a black woman carrying a large slice of watermelon, which stands for a stereotype of African Americans. Two serpent-like large leaves flank her, each with a single eye, which signify, according to the artist the all-seeing eye of God...
Category
1990s Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Pastel
Margy
Located in London, GB
watercolour on paper
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Church of San Lorenzo
Located in Boston, MA
Inscribed in the image: "Church of San Lorenzo". Signed and dated top right: "Metcalf '89". In fine condition. Sheet measures 12 x 10 1/2 inches.
Category
Late 20th Century Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor, Graphite
Jhonny
Located in London, GB
original watercolor on paper
17x30cm
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor
Manys
Located in London, GB
original watercolor on paper
17x30cm
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil, Pen
Jammy
Located in London, GB
watercolor on paper
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Tempera, Watercolor, Pen
Expressionist figurative drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Expressionist figurative drawings and watercolors available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add figurative drawings and watercolors created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of orange, blue, green, yellow and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Anastasia Kurakina, Parmis Sayous, Stephen Basso, and Anastasia Kurakina company. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Expressionist figurative drawings and watercolors, so small editions measuring 1.2000000476837158 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative drawings and watercolors made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1 and tops out at $70,500, while the average work sells for $1,029.