Expressionist Figurative Paintings
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.
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20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Acrylic
Early 20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Ink, Paper
Mid-20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
1940s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
1970s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
Mid-20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1920s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Canvas
1990s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Watercolor
1980s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
1960s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1940s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Canvas
20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Gouache, Board
1950s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Canvas
1970s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
1950s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Encaustic
1960s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1960s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1990s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Early 1900s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Canvas
1950s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1970s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Graphite
Late 20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1960s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
Mid-20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1960s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1950s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1970s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Masonite, Oil
1940s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Acrylic, Gouache
1930s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil
1950s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil Pastel, Watercolor
1970s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
1960s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
Late 20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
1980s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1940s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
1940s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Panel
1960s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
1960s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
1970s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
1970s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
1960s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
1930s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Gouache
1970s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
1940s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil
20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Gouache, Paper
Mid-20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Paper, Gouache
20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Paper, Gouache
20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Oil, Panel
20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Watercolor
1970s Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil