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Expressionist Portrait Paintings

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
Period: 1950s
The Harlequin
By Richard Mandin
Located in London, GB
'The Harlequin', oil on board, by Richard Mandin (1952). Harlequin's traditional diamond patterned costume, bicorn hat, and the wooden sword that denoted his buffoonery have appealed...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

At the autumn garden. Oil on cardboard, 80 x 57 cm
Located in Riga, LV
At the autumn garden. Oil on cardboard, 80x57 cm Janis Rikmanis (1901.5.IV – 1968.25.III) graduated Figurative painting studio of Latvia Art academy (1931). He took part in exhibiti...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Woman portrait. 1955, oil on canvas, 50.5 x 40.6 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Woman portrait. 1955, oil on canvas, 50.5 x 40.6 cm Provenance Bonhams
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Woman portrait. 1955, oil on canvas, 50.8 x 40.6 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Woman portrait. 1955, oil on canvas, 50.8 x 40.6 cm Provenance Bonhams
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of Young Girl Gouache Painting by Max Moreau
By Max Moreau
Located in Atlanta, GA
1950s portrait, gouache on paper painting by Belgian artist Max Moreau (1902 - 1992). A finely detailed portrait of a lovely young girl looking like a good child from the period right after WWII. Moreau captures the sweet expression, soft features, and calm, well-mannered demeanor of that child. Hand-signed and dated on the bottom right corner. The artist demonstrates incredible skill in detailing this portrait with gouache and watercolor. This skill has made his portraits so desirable for international collectors. The painting still has its original elegant mahogany carved frame with glass protection. Measurements: With frame: 25.19 in wide (64 cm) x 30.32 in high (77 cm) x 2.38 in deep (6 cm). Opening view: 19.69 in wide (50 cm) x 24.50 in high (62 cm). Note: Max Leon Moreau (1902 - 1992) Moreau is a highly acclaimed artist born in Belgium. He is best known for his loosely brushed street scenes of Paris, Granada, and North Africa and his revealing portraits of met characters during his foreign travels. Taught to paint by his father, the family moved to Paris, where he made copies of paintings at the Louvre Museum. Later Moreau and his family lived in Tunisia and Morocco before settling in Granada, Spain. Following his death in 1992, his home was converted into a museum dedicated to his life and work. His paintings are internationally collected and appear at auction in major international houses. Max spent his last 30 years living in his Moorish-style house in Granada, which upon his death, was bequeathed to the City of Granada along with the contents of his studio and artwork. The City of Granada has turned his home into a museum showcasing his paintings, studio, and private life. The main building of the Casa Museo Max Moreau houses an exhibition space that takes us on a journey through his most common themes: portraits, still-life, and landscapes, represented through oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings on paper. There is also a series of models for theatre creations that illustrate his interest and relationship to the scenic arts (he was involved in many productions as an actor, playwright, musician, and set designer). The building is an original from the region of Albayzín and is popularly known as Carmen. Does the name come from the Arabic word Karm which means vine, orchard, or garden.?The second building houses his studio, remained untouched: the easel next to the window, a piano with scores, and a collection of oriental objects...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Vintage Mid-Century Modern Swedish Oil Framed Painting - Portrait in Sepia
Located in Bristol, GB
PORTRAIT IN SEPIA Size: 72 x 56 cm (including frame) Oil on Board A large and striking mid century modernist portrait in oil, painted onto board. With a very distinctive dark sepia...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

La Contrebasse - Expressionist Musician Portrait Oil by Gen Paul
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed expressionist oil on canvas portrait by French painter and engraver Gen Paul. This charming work depicts a seated musician wearing a green suit with a black bow tie playing the double bass. This beautiful example of Gen Paul's work dates to the 1950's when he painted numerous studies of musicians playing various instruments in jazz such as the saxophone, violin and the double bass. His interest in this was likely based upon his father's career as a cafe musician. Signature: Signed upper right Dimensiosn: Framed: 30"x21" Unframed: 22"x13" Provenance: Private French collection Gen-Paul was born in the Rue Lepic, at the heart of Montmartre. His mother was an embroiderer, and his father was a café musician. Gen-Paul began painting from a young age. An apprentice interior decorative artist, he looked about him in the wealthy apartments where his work took him and observed the pieces collected by art lovers, and he learned anatomy by getting to know surgeons and going with them into operating theatres. He also attended the École des Beaux-Arts. He painted on discarded cigar boxes using...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Man by Swedish Artist Martin Eder, 1954, Gouache on Masonite
Located in Stockholm, SE
Martin Eder was a Swedish drawing teacher, artist and ceramicist. Martin was born on the island of Gotland and spent a lot of time there, he also lived in Sala. Martin was a curious ...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Gouache

Sailors in the Port of Nice
Located in London, GB
'Sailors in the Port of Nice', mixed media - gouache, pastel and oil on paper, by Alfred Salvignol (circa 1950s). The Port of Nice is one of the key hubs of Nice and, in fact, of the...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Oil, Gouache

The man with the pipe by Alois Wittlin - Oil on canvas 54x65 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on canvas Dark beige wooden frame 102 x 90,5 x 3 cm
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Potter, Expressionist Portrait of a Young Man by Philadelphia Artist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"The Potter" is an interior portrait of a young man working on a vase at his potter's wheel by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The 24.25" x 14" oil on cardboard painting is signed "Harmon" in the lower left and it is framed in a new black wood frame. Figurative expressionism in the style of Alice Neel. Bernard Harmon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1935. Harmon was primarily a portrait painter and a well loved teacher in the Philadelphia area. A graduate of the Philadelphia Museum School and Temples Tyler School of Art, Harmon traveled extensively in Europe and South America. Beloved by many, Harmon taught in the Philadelphia School District for 32 of his 54 years of life. Beginning his career as an art teacher at West Philadelphia High School, in the early 1960s he became one of the district's artists in residence, traveling from school to school to demonstrate for students how an artist works. Returning to the classroom, Harmon joined the art department at Central High School where he taught for 14 years and became an innovator in art curriculum, developing a program offering advanced placement art classes to gifted students. In his final years Harmon became a supervisor, mentoring teachers and overseeing programs in the Philadelphia school systems District #1. During his short life Harmon taught collage preparatory art classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, summer classes at the University of the Arts, and a Saturday program for gifted children at Drexel University. Among Harmon's portraits were commissioned by Philadelphia Jazz organist Jimmy Smith and Mayor Richardson Dilworth. Bernard Harmon was active in promoting African American Artist throughout his life time. He organized many early shows such as the "Afro American Artists 1800 - 1969" at the Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center in 1969. He was considered a Renaissance man by friends and colleagues for his interests not only in art but music and theater as well. He was familiar and friends with many other African American artists such as Doc Thrash, Selma Burke, Paul Keene...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Snap Peas, Expressionist Portrait of Young Woman by Philadelphia Artist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Snap Peas" is an interior portrait of a young woman working at her kitchen table, painted by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The 24" x 36" oil on board painting from 1955 is signed "Harmon" in the lower left and it is framed in a new black wood frame. Figurative expressionism in the style of Alice Neel. Bernard Harmon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1935. Harmon was primarily a portrait painter and a well loved teacher in the Philadelphia area. A graduate of the Philadelphia Museum School and Temples Tyler School of Art, Harmon traveled extensively in Europe and South America. Beloved by many, Harmon taught in the Philadelphia School District for 32 of his 54 years of life. Beginning his career as an art teacher at West Philadelphia High School, in the early 1960s he became one of the district's artists in residence, traveling from school to school to demonstrate for students how an artist works. Returning to the classroom, Harmon joined the art department at Central High School where he taught for 14 years and became an innovator in art curriculum, developing a program offering advanced placement art classes to gifted students. In his final years Harmon became a supervisor, mentoring teachers and overseeing programs in the Philadelphia school systems District #1. During his short life Harmon taught collage preparatory art classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, summer classes at the University of the Arts, and a Saturday program for gifted children at Drexel University. Among Harmon's portraits were commissioned by Philadelphia Jazz organist Jimmy Smith and Mayor Richardson Dilworth. Bernard Harmon was active in promoting African American Artist throughout his life time. He organized many early shows such as the "Afro American Artists 1800 - 1969" at the Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center in 1969. He was considered a Renaissance man by friends and colleagues for his interests not only in art but music and theater as well. He was familiar and friends with many other African American artists such as Doc Thrash, Selma Burke, Paul Keene...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Board, Oil

New Hat, Expressionist Portrait of Woman by Philadelphia Artist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"New Hat" is a figurative, interior portrait painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon from 195. The 20" x 16" oil on board portrait features a young African...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Cardboard, Oil

Young Man, Expressionist Portrait by Philadelphia Artist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Young Man" is an oil on canvas portrait painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The painting is 26" x 36" in size, signed on the lower right. Figurative ...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Mexican Interior Scene Scene with Figures and Fish" Expressionistic Style
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...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Masonite

Portrait of a Man
By Emmanuel Mane-Katz
Located in Long Island City, NY
An oil painting by Emmanuel Mane-Katz circa 1950. An expressionist style portrait of a man with a forlorn expression in dark gray and red tones. A...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Vintage Mid-Century Modern Swedish Oil Painting -Portrait in an Interior, Framed
Located in Bristol, GB
PORTRAIT IN AN INTERIOR Size: 57 x 49.5 cm (including frame) Oil on board A beautifully executed and subtle mid century modernist portrait, executed in oil onto board. This semi-ab...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

The Crystal Ball
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Noted German Expressionist artist Fritz Schwaderer(1901-1974), , was classically schooled in fine art in Germany in the early-mid 1920as. ...
Category

1950s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

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Expressionist portrait paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Expressionist portrait 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 portrait paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of orange, red, purple, blue and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Bernard Harmon, Julien Wolf, Shana Wilson, and Masri Hayssam. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Fabric 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 portrait paintings, so small editions measuring 3.5 inches across are also available. Prices for portrait 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 $1 and tops out at $190,000, while the average work sells for $3,000.

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