Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
NEO-EXPRESSIONIST STYLE
A resurgence of interest in Expressionism, Pop art, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and other movements gained steam among artists of the 1970s and ’80s, in part as a reaction to the austerity of the prevailing minimalism and Conceptual art of the era. A decadent, bold and brash art style called Neo-Expressionism saw painters returning to figural representation, creating highly textured works that were imbued with intensely personal narratives.
Neo-Expressionist paintings are sensuous in nature and highly subjective in meaning. Expressive brushwork, highly pigmented colors and layered forms and materials lent sculptural attributes to the work and were used to depict symbolic narratives from history, mythology and the artist’s personal experience.
Prominent figures such as Jean-Michel Basquiat led the Neo-Expressionist movement in the United States with paintings and prints that were raw, emotional and often violent in nature. In Germany, Die Neuen Wilden (the “New Fauves”) was the name given to a group of postwar artists that included the likes of sculptor Georg Baselitz and Gerhard Richter, a painter and photographer who explored the possibilities of both abstraction and realism, sometimes in a single piece. The work of the New Fauves — labeled as such for its return to Fauvism’s textured brushwork and use of vibrant colors — shares commonalities with Neo-Expressionism, and Baselitz was a pioneer of the movement in Europe. In addition, Willem de Kooning’s pulsating action paintings and Julian Schnabel’s experimentation with the materiality of paintings also took shape during this period.
“I was trying to make paintings different from the paintings that I saw a lot of at the time, which were mostly minimal, and they were highbrow and alienating, and I wanted to make very direct paintings that most people would feel the emotion behind when they saw them,” said Basquiat.
Neo-Expressionism generated some polarizing opinions, with some celebrating the revival of personal subjectivity in art while others criticizing the movement for being too commercially driven and nostalgic. But most experts agree that Neo-Expressionism was a huge commercial success and culturally impactful, paving the way for the postmodern work of artists like Richter and Sigmar Polke.
Find original Neo-Expressionist paintings, prints, mixed-media works and other art on 1stDibs.
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Style: Neo-Expressionist
"Art Critic with 2.3 Billion Dollar Painting, " Oil Pastel signed by Reg K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Art Critic with 2.3 Billion Dollar Painting" is an original oil pastel drawing on a grocery bag by Reginald K. Gee. The artist signed the piece in the...
Category
1990s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel, Found Objects
"Testa" by E. Wenk, 2020-22 - Pencil on Paper, Abstract Portrait
By Enzio Wenk
Located in Bresso, IT
Translated title: "Head"
Pencil on high-quality cotton paper, which is handmade in Italy.
This is part of an album.
It's been drawn in one go, with no erasure and with a continuou...
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Pencil
"Composizione" by E. Wenk, 2020 - Red Acrylic Paint and Pencil, Abstract
By Enzio Wenk
Located in Bresso, IT
Translated title: "Composition"
Acrylic paint and pencil paint on high-quality cotton paper, which is handmade in Italy.
This is part of an album.
It's been drawn in one go, with n...
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
"Sulle onde" by E. Wenk, 2020-22- Watercolor and Pencil, Abstract Figurative
By Enzio Wenk
Located in Bresso, IT
Translated title: "On the waves"
Watercolor and pencil paint on high-quality cotton paper, which is handmade in Italy.
This is part of an album.
It's been drawn in one go, with no ...
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Pencil
"Percorso interrotto" by Enzio Wenk, 2020-2021 - Marker on Paper, Abstract
By Enzio Wenk
Located in Bresso, IT
Translated title: "Interrupted path".
Marker on paper.
This is part of an album.
The price refers to the single drawing.
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Permanent Marker
"Gallo" by Enzio Wenk, 2020-21 - Watercolor and Marker, Abstract Animal, Rooster
By Enzio Wenk
Located in Bresso, IT
Translated title: "Rooster".
Watercolor and marker on high-quality cotton paper, which is handmade in Italy.
This is part of an album.
The price refers to the single drawing.
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Permanent Marker
"Maschera" by Enzio Wenk, 2022 - Gray Watercolor on Paper, Figurative Portrait
By Enzio Wenk
Located in Bresso, IT
Translated title: "Mask".
Watercolor on high-quality cotton paper, which is handmade in Italy.
This is part of an album.
The price refers to the single drawing.
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
"Afro" by Enzio Wenk, 2022 - Black India Ink Drawing on Paper, Figurative
By Enzio Wenk
Located in Bresso, IT
India ink on high-quality cotton paper, which is handmade in Italy.
This is part of an album.
The price refers to the single drawing.
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, India Ink
"Studio per scultura" by Enzio Wenk, 2020/2022 - Watercolor on Paper, Abstract
By Enzio Wenk
Located in Bresso, IT
Translated title: "Study for a sculpture".
Watercolor on high-quality cotton paper, which is handmade in Italy.
This is part of an album.
The price refers to the single drawing.
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
"Studio per scultura" by Enzio Wenk, 2020/2022 - Watercolor on Paper, Figurative
By Enzio Wenk
Located in Bresso, IT
Translated title: "Study for a sculpture".
Watercolor on high-quality cotton paper, which is handmade in Italy.
This is part of an album.
The price refers to the single drawing.
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
"Studio per scultura" by Enzio Wenk, 2020/2022 - Watercolor on Paper, Abstract
By Enzio Wenk
Located in Bresso, IT
Translated title: "Study for a sculpture".
Watercolor on high-quality cotton paper, which is handmade in Italy.
This is part of an album.
The price refers to the single drawing.
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
German Neo Expressionist Graphite Pencil Drawing Erwin Pfrang Nolan Gallery NYC
Located in Surfside, FL
Erwin Pfrang, German (b. 1951)
Graphite Pencil on paper
Framed 20 X 20.5, sheet 12.5 X 13
Hand signed lower left
Erwin Pfrang (born 1951, in Munich) is a German painter and printmaker.
Pfrang studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1974–79. Later he spent many years as an independent artist in Montepulciano, Val d’Orcia and Catania, Italy, interrupted by stays in Munich and Augsburg. He presently lives and works in Berlin. Erwin Pfrang is the grandson of the Munich folk comedian Konstantin Pfrang.
Carla Schulz-Hoffmann makes an attempt at characterising the painter: “An artist such as Erwin Pfrang inhabits an alternative world, a tiny microcosm of subjectivity, and lives that life uncompromisingly, with all the limitations and hardships that it entails. Among twentieth-century artists a comparable stance can be encountered perhaps in Jean Fautrier, but certainly in Otto Wols. His oeuvre relates in its figuration to Bosch or James Ensor and his oil painting to Lucian Freud in its painterly quality. Erwin Pfrang is represented by gallerists Fred Jahn, Munich (Exhibition: Don’t Forget Your Mask: Don’t (Part I: Don’t Forget Your Mask), Forget (Part II: Don’t Forget Your Mask), Your Mask (Part III: Don’t Forget Your Mask)Artists: Imi Knoebel, Barry Le Va, Karel Appel, Alexi Tsioris, William N. Copley, Isa Genzken...
Category
Early 2000s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Pencil, Graphite
Tower of Glamour fanciful still life hats mirror and colorful sunglasses
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This pastel is part of an ongoing series referred to restless still life in which the artist embodies inanimate objects with a life of their own. It is signed and dated on the bottom...
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pastel, Archival Paper
EL REGALO DE LA GATA
Located in Cuernavaca, Morelos
Gouche on hand made paper
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paint, Paper, Glaze
Sylvaticus Aquaticus, nude water bather blue colors free brushwork
By Tom Bennett
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Monotype on paper
Dramatic imagery from Tom Bennett’s series of monotypes, blending surrealistic mindscapes with stark realism
About Tom Bennett:
With quick brushstrokes, Tom Bennet...
Category
Early 2000s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Monotype
Nocturne Cave, abstracted earth tones, energetic brushwork
By Tom Bennett
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Monotype on paper
Category
Early 2000s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Monotype
Nights of Wine and Roses colorful wine bottles color romantic red dress flowers
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Soft pastel on archival toned paper signed and dated. The artist often plays with scale and composition to achieve desired effect.o
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Pastel
Smokestack, bright color masks urban setting romantic realism
Located in Brooklyn, NY
*ABOUT Stephen Basso
Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical works are alive with boundless imagina...
Category
Early 2000s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pastel, Archival Paper
Las Ratas
Located in Cuernavaca, Morelos
Gouche on hand made paper
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paint, Paper, Glaze
Tengan por culeros
Located in Cuernavaca, Morelos
Mixed on paper
Category
2010s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media
"The Three Dollar Bill Network, " Oil Pastel on Cardboard signed by Reginald Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"The Three Dollar Bill Network" is an original oil pastel drawing mounted to cardboard by Reginald K. Gee. The artist signed the piece on the back. It depicts abstract marks, small figures, and scenes separated by lines and space.
30" x 40" art
Reginald K. Gee was born in Milwaukee on April 28, 1964 to Native American and African American parents and spent most of his childhood on the northwest side of Milwaukee in the Havenwoods neighborhood. Gee has been creating art since 1982, and his professional art debut began in 1986 at an outdoor exhibition at Milwaukee’s Performing Arts Center. Like Prophet William J. Blackmon and Simon Sparrow...
Category
1990s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel, Cardboard
"Sincerely Yours, " Oil Pastel mounted to Cardboard signed by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Sincerely Yours" is an original oil pastel drawing mounted to cardboard. The artist, Reginald K. Gee, signed the piece on the back. This piece depicts four men looking out at the vi...
Category
1990s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel, Cardboard
'Deep Blue With Pamela' original signed pastel portrait drawing purple and green
Located in Milwaukee, WI
'Deep Blue With Pamela' is an original signed pastel portrait. The drawing presents a portrait, presumably of Pamela, who Reggie has rendered in greens and yellows and pinks against ...
Category
1990s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Pastel
Contemporary female artist animal pastel drawing doves dark background signed
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"White Doves, After Boucher" is an original pastel drawing by Alicia Czechowski. The artist signed the piece lower right. It depicts two birds sitting in...
Category
1980s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pastel
"Turn of the Century Abstract, " Pastel on Grocery Bag signed by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Turn of the Century Abstract" is an original oil pastel on grocery bag by Reginald K. Gee. The artist signed the piece in the lower right. This piece depicts blue, teal, yellow, bla...
Category
1990s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel, Found Objects
"Planter, " an Oil Pastel signed by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Planter" is an original oil pastel drawing on a grocery bag signed in the upper right by artist Reginald K. Gee. It depicts a woman with a gardening hoe looking at the flowers she h...
Category
1990s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel
Black and White Charcoal Portrait of a Woman by Max Turner
Located in Pasadena, CA
In this drawing, the background is deliberately neutral to accentuate the prominence of the face. Charcoal is a "free" drawing medium known for its expressive qualities, requiring artists to work within its unique constraints. As an experienced figure work instructor at the California Art Institute, Max Turner...
Category
1960s Neo-Expressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Charcoal
Neo-expressionist drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Neo-Expressionist drawings and watercolor paintings 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 drawings and watercolor paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Reginald K. Gee, Zsolt Berszán, Stephen Basso, and Tom Bennett. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Crayon and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Neo-Expressionist drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 4.93 inches across are also available. Prices for drawings and watercolor paintings 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 $300 and tops out at $10,250, while the average work sells for $1,580.