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.
$3,326Sale Price|26% Off
Venice Palace and Gondola Mooring Colorful Impasto Canal View Oil Painting Italy
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Venice Palace and Gondola Mooring, Colorful Impasto Canal View Artist: Ulpiano Carrasco Title: Palacio y embarcadero en Venecia Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 60 × 73 cm / 23.6 ×...
Oil
$2,969Sale Price|26% Off
Expressive Castilian Landscape Oil Painting with Olive Trees and Impasto Spain
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Expressive Castilian Landscape Oil Painting with Olive Trees and Impasto Artist: Ulpiano Carrasco Title: Verano en Castillejo Year: 1998 Technique: Oil on canvas Artwork dimensions: 54 × 65 cm / 21.26 × 25.59 in Framed dimensions: 78 × 89 cm / 30.71 × 35.04 in Signature: Signed and dated on the reverse Inscription: Titled “Verano en Castillejo” on the reverse Framing: Framed Condition: Good overall condition, with rich original impasto and visible pictorial texture Description A vibrant expressive landscape by Spanish artist Ulpiano Carrasco, titled Verano en Castillejo and dated 1998 on the reverse. This oil on canvas represents a powerful Castilian landscape, built through dense impasto, energetic brushwork and a luminous palette of greens, yellows, blues, whites and earthy reds. The composition captures an open rural panorama with olive trees, rolling cultivated fields and distant hills, transforming the Spanish countryside into an intense chromatic experience. Carrasco does not approach landscape as simple topography. His painting turns nature into matter, rhythm and emotion. The fields appear almost sculpted with paint, while the olive trees emerge as dark, expressive forms against the vibrating surface of the land. The result is a landscape full of movement, heat and Mediterranean-Castilian atmosphere. The work is especially attractive for collectors of Spanish contemporary landscape painting, expressive impasto painting, Mediterranean landscapes, olive tree paintings...
Oil
$2,139
Oil on canvas Expressionist “Cabins of French Brittany”, after Georges Laporte
Located in Valladolid, ES
Exceptional oil on canvas depicting a coastal landscape with small cabins and fishing boats characteristic of French Brittany, signed Ronald, an artist from the second half of the 20...
Canvas
Cerne Abbas, Original painting, landscape, contemporary
Located in Deddington, GB
Cerne Abbas is an Original Oil painting by Eleanor Woolley. Focusing in on the Valley of Cerne Abbas, this painting depicts the sloping hills climbing away from the village towards t...
Canvas, Oil
North West. Richard K Blades. Oil painting of the sea and sky Turner influence.
Located in Coltishall, GB
North West - a tumultuous seascape beneath a dramatic sky. Blades' textured brushstrokes that merge shades of deep indigo and soft pink, suggest an impending storm. The transition fr...
Oil, Board
Villiers le Bel
Located in Paris, FR
PRESSEMANE Joseph 'Villiers le Bel'. Oil on board. Signed. 47 x 21 cm. Titled and signed on the back. Biography Born Jozef Presman in 1904 in Berestechko, Ukraine, he studied at th...
Oil
$2,080Sale Price|20% Off
Aurora Over a Northern Lake, Expressionist Oil on Canvas, Framed, 1916
Located in Stockholm, Stockholm
Aurora over a Northern Lake, signed and dated “G Claeson 1916”, oil on canvas. This evocative landscape, executed in an expressionist manner, and on the same time almost modern, cap...
Canvas, Oil
$2,488
Shadow marshes. Richard K Blades. Painting of sea at sunset. Turner influence.
Located in Coltishall, GB
A warm sunset over Norfolk's Cromer beach. Between Thoughts is a sublime oil painting that captures the mesmerizing tranquility of a sunset over thw North Sea. The horizon is ablaze...
Oil, Board
$1,580
Poppies and Wildflowers, Figurative Triptych, Large Botanical Landscape on Paper
Located in Barcelona, ES
This original painting by Romina Milano presents a lyrical field of poppies and wildflowers, where gestural brushwork and simplified forms create a vivid, contemporary botanical comp...
Acrylic, Watercolor, Handmade Paper
$3,180
Eventide by Richard K Blades. Oil painting of the sea at sunset after a storm.
Located in Coltishall, GB
Richard K Blades is an expressive landscape painter working in the English Romantic tradition. He follows in a long line of artists such as Turner, Constable, Seago, Daubigney and C...
Oil, Board
Between Thoughts. Richard K Blades. Painting of sea at sunset. Turner influence.
Located in Coltishall, GB
A warm sunset over Norfolk's Cromer beach. Between Thoughts is a sublime oil painting that captures the mesmerizing tranquility of a sunset over thw North Sea. The horizon is ablaze...
Oil, Board
"Sarabono" (2009) by Jann T. Bass, Original Oil Painting of Landscape
Located in Denver, CO
"Sarabono" (2009) by Jann T. Bass is an original handmade oil painting that depicts a colorful flowery landscape. This painting measures 12 x 14 inches and is ready to hang.
Oil, Board
$790
Nature-Inspired Painting, Tropical Flora in Brown and Green, Modern Nature Forms
Located in Barcelona, ES
This painting explores an intimate and imaginative relationship with nature, transforming tropical flora into expressive, living forms. Rather than depicting a specific landscape, th...
Paper, Wax Crayon, Acrylic
$2,500
“Crossroads, c. 1940” WPA Polish-American Expressionist Modernist Oil Signed
By Sol Wilson
Located in Yardley, PA
“Crossroads, c. 1940” by Sol Wilson (Polish-American, 1896-1974). This expressive painting by Wilson depicts a moody village crossroads rendered with his signature textured brushwor...
Oil, Board
$902Sale Price|20% Off
Camargue, French Oil Painting on Canvas, Framed, 1960s Landscape
Located in Genève, GE
Modern Mediterranean Figurative Painting – Red Fishing Boat and Female Figure – Textured Oil on Canvas Signed G. Girard This original painting signed G. Girard captures a poetic and ...
Oil
$1,306Sale Price|26% Off
Mediterranean Village of Mallorca oil on canvas painting
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Artist: Bernat Sanjuan i Tarré (Barcelona, 1915 – Deià, Mallorca, 1979) Title: Mediterranean Village of Mallorca Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 65 × 92 cm (25.6 × 36.2 in) Framed:...
Canvas, Oil
$1,996Sale Price|20% Off
Large Vintage Expressionist Landscape Original Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
A gorgeous bright green expressionist landscape by Carl Ashby. From the collection of renowned painter Steve Wheeler. Nicely framed in a gold and black wooden floater frame. Measurin...
Oil, Canvas
Funfair - 1950's French Expressionist Mid Century Oil on Canvas Painting
By André Beaucé
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A wonderful 1950's French expressionist oil on canvas depicting figures at a busy funfair, by Parisian artist André Beaucé. Excellent quality work painted with thick impasto brush work. Signed lower centre. Artist: André Beaucé (French, 1911-1974) Title: Funfair Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 25.5 x 21 inches (65 x 54 cm) André Beaucé was a French painter born on May 23, 1911 in Rennes and died on January 2, 1974 in Paris . A pupil of the School of Fine Arts in Rennes, a graduate of the National School of Decorative Arts where he was admitted in 1932, André Beaucé was a pupil in the workshops of André Lhote and Simon, with Yves Brayer . He won the Abd-el-Tif prize in 1946 and was a regular at the Salon d'Automne. After having lived for several years in Algeria, and in particular at Villa Abd El Tif where he was a scholarship holder from 1946 to 1948, André Beaucé returned to France in 1949 and resumed his teaching at the Schools of Paris. His painting is then powerfully expressionist, free from any system. In the 1950s, we notice vigorous, uncompromising, intense portraits, captured in an almost caricatural way. The tones, always very mounted, are opposed with force in a composition cut with vigor. After the dark years of the war, Beaucé’s art reflects a violent vision of a certain reality that is always brutal and yet magnificent. Exhibitions Paris, 1936 to 1945, Salon of the National Society of Fine Arts . Tunis, 1946, Exhibition of French Africa. Algiers, 1947, Abd-el-Tif. Paris, 1948, Letourneur gallery. Paris, from 1950 to 1960, Salon d'Automne and Salon Comparaisons . Paris, 1962, Roy's gallery. Paris, May 1963, Exhibition organized on the occasion of the Estates General on Disarmament , Cercle Volney. First Salon Biarritz - San Sebastian: School of Paris - Painting, sculpture: André Beauce, Georges-André Klein , Adrienne Jouclard , Jean Joyet , Robert Lotiron , Roland Bierge , Andrée Bordeaux-Le Pecq , Henri Hayden , Franck Innocent , Germaine Lacaze...
Canvas, Oil
View of the Lake, Oil on Cardboard, Landscape Painting, 26x36.5 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Janis Rikmanis (1901.5.IV – 1968.25.III) graduated Figurative painting studio of Latvia Art academy (1931). He took part in exhibitions since 1929. Self-exhibitions were made in Riga...
Oil, Cardboard
$600
"Abstract Overhead Parking Lot" (2005) Expressionist Cityscape, Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
"Subject matter to me is a vehicle for me to explore how I observe life. My urban influences are an assembly of varied fabrics stitched together to form a tapestry. It is not to re...
Oil, Panel
Vintage Modernist Beach Sunset Vibrantly Toned Seascape Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage French expressionist beach scene. Framed. Measuring: 10 by 15 inches overall and 4 by 9 painting alone. Signed. Excellent condition, ready to hang and enjoy.
Oil, Board
Somerset Lake by Joanna Commings, Original art, landscape art, Impasto art
Located in Deddington, GB
Somerset Lake by Joanna Commings [2021] original and hang signed by the artist Acrylics on canvas Image size: H:50 cm x W:60 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:50 cm x W:60 cm ...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Snowman with a flashlight 30X25
By Elena Lukina
Located in Zofingen, AG
In my painting, I've poured my soul into capturing the whimsical joy and innocent warmth of winter's magic. Brushstrokes of oil dance across the canvas, framing a cheerful snowman as...
Oil
The Architecture of Radiance, Impasto Botanical Oil Painting, Fine Art
By Elena Lukina
Located in Zofingen, AG
"The Architecture of Radiance" by Elena Lukina (2022), from the series "The Architecture of Fragility". This authentic Alla prima oil painting on stretched professional Caravaggio ca...
Canvas, Oil
Afternoon Colors, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
A path leads to Mt. Diablo in this Fauvist landscape. Artist James Hartman used thick layers of oil paint to create an expressive and textured outdoor scene. In...
Oil
$1,413Sale Price|20% Off
1970’s Huge French Expressionist Green Landscape Avenue of Trees, signed oil
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Avenue of Trees French Expressionist School, signed front and back Dated 1974 oil on canvas, framed framed: 37 x 44 inches canvas: 32 x 39 inches private collection, France the p...
Canvas, Oil
$1,372
Towards Cley. Richard K Blades. Oil painting of sea and sky Turner influence.
Located in Coltishall, GB
Towards Cley. This captivating artwork showcases a dramatic seascape where Blades' has skillfully blended a vivid array of colours to convey the transient beauty of twilight. With hi...
Oil, Board
Amroth seascape at night
By Rupert Aker
Located in Deddington, GB
Amroth seascape at night by Rupert Aker [2021] original Oil on board Image size: H:30 cm x W:40 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:40 cm x W:40 cm x D:3cm Frame Size: H:33 cm x W:...
Oil, Board
CATS
Located in Zofingen, AG
In this vibrant composition, I've joyfully blended impressionism with pop art, using acrylic and oil to bring to life these charming feline figures. The piece captures the warmth of ...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
Mountain Range, Oil Painting on Canvas by Jalal Gharbi
By Jalal Gharbi
Located in Long Island City, NY
A large oil painting of a dramatic Mountain Range by Tunisian-born artist, Jalal Gharbi (1920 - 2005). The painting measures 30 x 40 inches and the frame 37.5 x 47.5 inches.
Canvas, Oil
"Valley View" (2009) by Jann T. Bass, Original Oil Painting of Landscape
Located in Denver, CO
"Valley View" (2009) by Jann T. Bass is an original handmade oil painting that depicts a lush green valley with a small lake in the middle. This painting measures 9 x 12 inches and i...
Oil, Board
Lady with a Parasol at the Beach, Mid-20th Century Oil on Canvas
Located in St. Albans, GB
Hubert Glansdorff Belgian 1877 – 1963 Signed bottom right Picture Size: 19 x 28" (47 x 70cm) Outside Frame Size: 27 x 36" (67 x 90cm) A rare chance ...
Oil
Low tide by Richard Blades. Oil painting. Sunset over the sea. Turner influence
Located in Coltishall, GB
Richard K Blades mesmerizing oil painting captures the ethereal beauty of a sunset over a tranquil sea. The sky, painted in vivid hues of orange and crimson, seamlessly blends with s...
Oil, Board
$1,781
Elena Lukina, "Spring Pond" Contemporary Impressionist Water Oil Painting, 2023
By Elena Lukina
Located in Zofingen, AG
Original oil painting "Spring Pond" by contemporary artist Elena Lukina, created in 2023 for the "Liquid Reflections: The Floating Garden" series. The vertical composition masterfull...
Canvas, Oil
$881Sale Price|20% Off
20th Century French Expressionist Provencal Landscape Green Hills & Town
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Green Hills in Provence' French School, late 20th century oil on thin board, unframed board: 13.5 x 18 inches the painting is in overall very good and sou...
Oil
$1,309Sale Price|30% Off
Lake view by A. Muller - Oil on canvas 60x73 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on canvas with a frame; total size 80x93 cm
Oil
$1,800
"Mexican Outdoor Scene with Figures" Expressionistic Style Oil Painting on Board
Located in New York, NY
A strong modernist oil painting depicted in the Mid Century by Russian painter Michael Baxte. Mostly known for his abstracted figures on canvas or street scenes, this piece is a wond...
Oil, Masonite
$5,607Sale Price|45% Off
¨Topiaria¨. Expressionist colorful garden. Big format Oil on canvas
Located in Segovia, ES
Topiaria. Big format Oil on canvas Beautiful garden by Chico Montilla. Measurements: (H) 130 x (W) 195 x 3 cm. Framed 142 x 207 x 5 cm. Colorful expressionist view of a garden with plants that have been given artistic form through the topiary art...
Canvas, Oil
Mid 20th Century After Franz Marc German Expressionism Red Horses Oil Canvas
By Franz Marc
Located in Stockholm, SE
This mid-20th-century oil on canvas by Swedish artist C. Landin is an expressive hand-painted recreation of the famous work "Grazing Horses IV" (also known as "The Red Horses" or "Di...
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
Mid Century Expressionist Landscape, Oil on Canvas. The Countryside
Located in Cotignac, FR
Mid Century oil on canvas landscape painting by Franco Hungarian artist Elemer Vagh Weinmann. The painting is signed bottom right and is presented in a custom gilt frame with a white...
Canvas, Oil
Expressionist Colorful Landscape Oil Paint : San Antonio
Located in Segovia, ES
San Antonio . Oil on canvas by Spanish artist Chico Montilla. Measurements: (H) 65 x (W) 81 x 2 (D) cm. Framed 85 x 101 x 5 cm. San Antonio, another expressionist view of the countr...
Canvas, Oil
Raventos Square Poppies original abstract mixed media painting
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
"AMAPOLAS" original abstract mixed media painting RAVENTÓS Mª Assumpció – (San Sadurní d’Anoia, Barcelona 1930). Raventos trained at the elite Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts in Barce...
Canvas, Mixed Media
$656Sale Price|20% Off
Tropical Garden, Autumn Tones, Lush Flowers, Illustration Style, Still Life
Located in Barcelona, ES
This painting explores an intimate and imaginative relationship with nature, transforming tropical flora into expressive, living forms. Rather than depicting a specific landscape, th...
Wax Crayon, Paper, Acrylic
Mid Century Modern Mini Expressive Landscape Oil Painting - Woodland Colour
Located in Bristol, GB
WOODLAND COLOUR Size: 38 x 33 cm (including frame) Oil on board A small but very impactful mid century modernist landscape composition, painted in oil onto board. In this painting ...
Board, Oil
Spring – Impressionist Abstract Flower Tree Oil Painting Wall Art Canvas
By Elena Lukina
Located in Zofingen, AG
This original oil painting is an atmospheric landscape artwork titled Spring, created by the registered artist Elena Lukina in 2022.Designed with an innate sense of balance, this pai...
Canvas, Oil
$12,128Sale Price|30% Off
Piazza di Spagna, Roma Oil on Canvas, Expressionist, Framed, 1930s
By Yves Brayer
Located in London, GB
'Piazza di Spagna, Roma' oil on canvas, by Yves Brayer (1933). At the bottom of the Spanish Steps, is one of the most famous squares in Rome. It owes ...
Canvas, Oil
$277Sale Price|20% Off
20th Paris School Collage Cutout Artwork Wonderful Interior Design options!
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
"Collage" by Bernard Herzog (French, b.1935) signed and stamped verso with catalogue number photo collage cut outs on paper, unframed overall paper: 25.5 x 20 inches Highly unique ...
Photographic Film, Magazine Paper
Marsh Near the South River, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
This simple study of a southern Massachusetts marsh transforms the landscape through bold color and the removal of unnecessary detail. Expressive brushwork give...
Acrylic
$4,800
Large Expressionist Acrylic Canvas Painting "Laurelhurst Park" Portland Oregon
Located in Portland, OR
A large Expressionist acrylic on canvas painting by William James ( Jack ) McLarty 1919-2011, the painting signed & titled "Laurelhurst park", 2003. Jack McLarty was very much a key ...
Oil
$1,774Sale Price|20% Off
Afternoon Stroll - 1950's French Expressionist Mid Century Landscape Painting
By André Beaucé
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A beautiful large 1950's French expressionist oil on canvas depicting locals taking an afternoon stroll, by Paris painter André Beaucé. Excellent quality ...
Canvas, Oil
Oil painting on board "Rough sea with steamer on the horizon" by S.A.Vinogradoff
Located in Gavere, BE
Sergey VINOGRADOV ( 1869 - 1938 ) Rough sea with steamer on the horizon Sergei Arsenievich Vinogradov ( Russian: 1869–1938 ) was a Russian-Soviet Impressionist painter; known for l...
Gold Leaf
Meneses Mallorca Coast original watercolor paper expressionist painting
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
coast original watercolor paper expressionist painting. This Catalan painter, settled for years in Mallorca, offers a series of landscapes in which the natural is treated in the imp...
Watercolor
Haystacks in Nordmany
Located in New York, NY
This is a period when the artist saw the light differently and the journey all started in 1971. Bernard Buffet, the artist, was searching for subjects, looking to paint what he saw j...
Oil
$1,580
No Ordinary Winter's Tale: Resilience, the War 1943, German Expressionist oil
Located in Norwich, GB
This is no ordinary winter scene. It is the story of prosecution and survival; of resolve and resilience during World War 2, as it was experienced by German Expressionist Heinz Lohma...
Oil, Board
Morning in a sunny vineyard
By Elena Lukina
Located in Zofingen, AG
In this painting, I captured the vibrant energy of a sunlit vineyard at dawn, blending impressionism and realism to evoke warmth and renewal. The golden hues reflect the morning ligh...
Canvas, Oil
Light and Stone in Harmony Sway, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Soft light hits two peaks, casting soft, blue shadows on the cliffs below. In the foreground, a meadow lights up with small, dancing trees. The composition and ...
Oil
Café de la Gare - Mid 20th Century French Expressionist Figurative Oil Painting
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A superb mid 20th century French expressionist oil on canvas depicting a café de la gare (station café) as inscribed on the reverse. Numerous well dressed figures stand at the café ...
Canvas, Oil
$1,495
19th Century Impressionist Manner Oil Seascape Winter Sunset Harbor Scene Signed
Located in Stockholm, SE
This marine oil on canvas resonates with French Impressionism of the late 19th century (reminiscent of the circle or followers of Eugène Boudin) and captures the fleeting poetry of w...
Canvas, Wood, Oil
$4,297Sale Price|50% Off
"Expressionist Oil Painting 'Landscape', Canvas, Belgian, Circa 1928"
Located in London, GB
'Landscape', oil on canvas, by Charles Kvapil (1928). The artist, Kvapil, has scores of tremendous artworks which depict scenes in nature such as this one. Here, a bit of Mediterrane...
Canvas, Oil
$942Sale Price|20% Off
1950's French Modernist / Cubist Painting Signed, French Landscape
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: Title: French Roof Tops Medium: oil painting on board, unframed Measures: board: 8.75 x 6.25 inches Provenance: private collection, France Condition: The paintin...
Acrylic