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Expressionist 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
Recognized Seller Listings
Pink Lady
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Pink Lady Oil on canvas, c. 1968 Signed upper right (see photo). Housed in the original frame made by the artist Titled on the reverse on the stretcher bar Inspired by DeKooning Prov...
Category

1960s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Untitled" is an oil on panel painting by Duncan Martin. The framed size is 17 x 20 7/8 x 1 inch. Provenance: Private Collection
Category

Late 20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Hacer Presente II
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Hacer Presente II" is an oil on canvas painting by Kim Douglas Wiggins. The painting is signed, "KD Wiggins '94". The framed piece measures 46 1/2 x 46 1/...
Category

Late 20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mother and Child by Béla Kádár - Work on paper
Located in London, GB
*PLEASE NOTE UK BUYERS WILL ONLY PAY 5% VAT ON THIS PURCHASE. Mother and Child by BÉLA KÁDÁR (1877-1955) Gouache on paper 86 x 56.8 cm (33 7/8 x 22 3/8 inches) Signed lower right Kádár Béla This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Gábor Einspach on behalf of The First Hungarian Painting Expert's Office. Provenance Private collection, Israel The Hungarian artist Béla Kádár was born in Budapest in 1877 to a working-class Jewish family. Following his father’s death, he was forced to start working from an early age after only six years to primary schooling and was apprenticed as an iron-turner. In 1902, Kádár attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest. After leaving the Academy, he worked at a mural painting company. Only when he visited Berlin and Paris and being exposed to the avant-garde art of the time, did Kádár direct his attention to painting once again. In 1910, the artist won the Kohner prize, and the same year he was awarded his first solo exhibition at the Hungarian National Gallery. By 1918, Kádár moved to Western Europe. Today he is one of the most famous members of the early twentieth-century Hungarian avant-garde. Over the course of his time living in Berlin, Kádár’s style changed. His expressionistic, graphic works were gradually replaced by paintings that were more romantic and delicate in nature. Incorporating and often synthesising stylistic elements of Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, Neo-Primitivism and German Expressionism, Kádár’s decorative and metaphysical subject matter was often based upon traditional Hungarian folklore, and his subject-matter became increasingly narrative. His paintings in this period often feature surrealistic dream-like imagery, reminiscent of compositions by Marc Chagall. Despite his variety of subjects, ranging from abstracted figures and landscapes to interiors and objects, his paintings are typically rendered in a bright, jewel-toned palette and feature a fractured approach to rendering space. In 1923 in Berlin, Kádár was invited by Herwath Walden to exhibit at the highly influential Galerie Der Sturm...
Category

1930s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Gouache

La Fiancée de Notre Dame by Theo Tobiasse
Located in London, GB
*UK BUYERS WILL PAY AN ADDITIONAL 5% IMPORT DUTY ON TOP OF THE ABOVE PRICE La Fiancée de Notre Dame by Theo Tobiasse (1927-2012) Oil on canvas 81 x 65 ...
Category

1960s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Young Girl in Pink
Located in Chicago, IL
Béla Czóbel, Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, R. S. Johnson Fine Art, Chicago, 1996: no. 60 and reproduced on page 95 of catalogue.
Category

1960s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Young Girl in Green
Located in Chicago, IL
In a letter written to Czóbel after he had become quite ill in 1975, famous Portuguese painter Vieira da Silva writes: “My very dear Czóbel, We em...
Category

1970s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Woman in a Red Dress
Located in Chicago, IL
In an article published in Le Figaro (Paris, March 19, 1964), Raymond Cogniat comments on Czóbel’s unique artistic style. He writes: “...Czóbel, who arrived Paris in the first years...
Category

1940s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Street in Szentendre
Located in Chicago, IL
Signed lower right
Category

Late 20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Interior Scene - Szentendre
Located in Chicago, IL
Signed, lower right Provenance: R. S. Johnson Fine Art Private collection, Chicago
Category

1960s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Interior Atelier
Located in Chicago, IL
Signed, lower right
Category

1960s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

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Contemporary Art, Expressionist, Portrait - Walk
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Artist: Gao, Renjie The member of the Hudson Artists Society, New York Agent of BRUNO MASSA Gallery, France Six Worldwide well-known art sales website agent KOONESS/1STDIBS/ARTPRICE/...
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2010s Expressionist Paintings

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Contemporary Art, Expressionist, Portrait - WE IV
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"Koi Underwater Landscape" Bright fish swimming, blues, greens, pink, orange red
Located in Wellesley, MA
This work is a complex composition of 3 koi fish swimming, virtually an underwater landscape filled with light and brilliant color painted in a lush and...
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2010s Expressionist Paintings

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Wood Panel, Oil

Sacré-Coeur Montmartre at Willette Square Paris
Located in London, GB
'Sacré-Coeur, Montmartre at Willette Square, Paris', gouache on art paper (circa 1930s), by Lucien Génin. Created by the Director of Public Ways and Promenades under Napoleon III, Sq...
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1930s Expressionist Paintings

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Gouache Watercolor Painting, Nantucket Harbor Boats American Deaf Modernist Art
Located in Surfside, FL
Abstract harbor scene with boats, in bold, vivid colors on heavy mould made paper. Hand signed and dated, 1980 22 X 30 not frame Robert Freiman, deaf from birth, was born in March 1917 in New York City. He attended an oral program near his home and later transferred to the Lexington School for the Deaf when he was six. Early in his childhood, his love for drawing, painting and studying became apparent, and as an adult, he continued his studies in New York at the National Academy of Design, Pratt Institute, the Art Students League and the Parsons School of Design. In Paris, France he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Bob Freiman was especially focused on painting portraits and figures in motion in various mediums, especially the mixed-media combination of watercolor, acrylic and pen. Among his subjects were acrobats, ballet dancers, cyclists and other athletes. He as well focused on abstracts for a time, discovering new media in his works with quick brushwork and expressive movements. In the latter part of his career, his style became abstract and surreal with images of metaphysical landscapes with architectural elements such as arches, towers, pyramids and castles floating in the air. The famed art critic Pierre Rouve wrote: “It is therefore refreshing to see them revitalized by the colourist wealth and virile handwriting of Robert Freiman, probably the best American water-colorist since John Marin. He worked in Provincetown and Nantucket and regularly exhibited there. He showed at Doll & Richards gallery of Boston alongside John Chetcuti, Lloyd Goodrich, Tod Lindenmuth, William Meyerowitz, Dwight Shepler, Elizabeth O'Neill Verner, Stanley Woodward, Andrew Wyeth, and others. His work bears the influence of the mid century school of Paris in particular Jean Carzou. He was a regular exhibitor at the Sidewalk Art...
Category

1980s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache, Archival Paper

"Palace Cinema", expressionist, urban, purple, gray, yellow, blue, oil painting
Located in Natick, MA
“Palace Cinema” by Catherine Picard-Gibbs is an evocative, urban scene, depicting the remnants of a once thriving cinema, painted in oil with a color palette of purple, gray, yellow ...
Category

2010s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

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Chess Game Set French Israeli Surrealist Watercolor Gouache Painting
Located in Surfside, FL
This is a large hand signed mixed media paiting on Arches French paper. A chess game encounter. Figurative Abstract Expressionist painting. Zwy Milshtein (Zvi Tzvi Milstein) BIOGRAPHY 1934 Born in Kishinev (Bessarabia) Russian, Romanian border region. He fled the Nazi Holocaust and in 1948 Arrived in Israel via Cyprus, where he studied with Rafael Ben­ Zvi. Studies in Tel­ Aviv with Mordecai Ardon, Aharon Avni, Moshe Mokadi and Marcel Janco founder of the Dada art movement. Studies at The Bezalel Art School, Jerusalem. 1956 Awarded a scholarship by the Israel​ American Fund. In 1991, Roland Topor invited him to participate in the last exhibitions of the Panique group and collaborated in the review Le Fou Parle. Select Group Exhibitions 1950­ 55 Israeli Artists​ Exhibition, Tel­ Aviv Museum 1956 Cimaise de Paris, 1958 "School of Paris", Charpentier Gallery, 1959 Les Grands et les Jeunes Aujourd ​hui Salon National 1960 Les Grands et les Jeunes d ​ Aujourd ​hui Contemporary Israeli Art, Museum of Modern Art, Paris 1961 Russian Artists of the Paris School , Ecole du Paris ​1961​ Salon de la Jeune Peinture, 1964 Salon des Indépendants, Grand​ Palais, Paris 1965 Salon d'Automne, Grand​ Palais, Paris 1966 Lauréat for the Gravure du Prix de la Critique 1967 Biennale, Paris 1970 stay with Theodor Ahrenberg, the eminent Swedish art collector. MILSHTEIN has an exhibition at ARC, in the museum of modern art in Paris. Drawings suspended in a liquid contained in a bottle thus creating a three dimensional effect. 1978 An retrospective exhibition of his etchings engravings is held at the Bibliotheque Nationale; the publication of a book illustrated with 33 drawings : Le rite du chat, on exhibit at Artcurial in Paris. Milshtein has also written several plays and has worked in etching intaglio carborundum, lithograph techniques. listed in adec artprice. He has exhibited at galleries in Germany, France and Switzerland with Theodore Theo Tobiasse, Mane Katz, Raya Sorkine, Avigdor Arikha and Abram Krol. A fine Judaica artist. Since 2007 Milshtein has had his workshop in the Rhône in Gleizé where he also lives. Personal exhibitions 1952: Tel Aviv (Israel), Studio Avni 1955: Tel Aviv (Israel), Museum 1957: Paris, Galerie Saint Placide 1958: Paris, La Cave de la Galerie Saint-Placide - Paris, Galerie Katia Granoff 1959: Tel Aviv (Israel), Museum Dizengoff House 1960: Paris, Galerie Katia Granoff 1962: Tel Aviv (Israel), Chemerinsky Art Gallery - Jerusalem (Israel), Musée National Bezalel —New York (United States), Bodley Gallery - Bat Yam (Israel), Bat Yam Museum 1963: Geneva (Switzerland), Museum of Art and History, Cabinet des Estampes 1964: Paris, Galerie Katia Granoff 1965: Paris, Librairie-Galerie Alexandre Loewy 1966: Paris, Galerie Saint-Placide - Brussels (Belgium), Galerie Le Creuset...
Category

20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Watercolor, Gouache

Emile's Tavern
Located in London, GB
'Emile's Tavern', gouache on paper (circa 1930s), by Lucien Génin. A tavern in French is called a 'guinguette'. With the rise in living standards from the 1860s along with the develo...
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1930s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Village road. 2003, oil on canvas and cardboard, 50x70 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Village road. 2003, oil on canvas and cardboard, 50x70 cm Bright, colorful landscape in pink colors Valdis Bush (1924-2014) studied at the Art academy of...
Category

Early 2000s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard, Canvas

Mid 20th Century Modernist; 'Meadow Landscape with Wildlife' Expressionist oil
Located in Frome, Somerset
A fine Modernist/Expressionist oil by listed Swedish artist Sune Blomqvist (1919-1989) 'Meadow Landscape with Wildlife' circa 1950-60. oil on canvas 33cmx41cm gallery frame 40cmx48cm...
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1950s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Venice Italy Landscape Gouache Painting Canal with Gondolier Bridge of Sighs
Located in Surfside, FL
Vita P. Solomon Born December 16, 1916 in Philadelphia, PA to Harry Petrosky and Rose Bobrow, Vita graduated from Overbrook High School in 1933 and earned her diploma in Illustration and won the Lewis European Fellowship in 1937 from Moore College of Art. While raising a family she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with Honors, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Education, with Honors, from Temple University Tyler School of Fine Art in 1958, and a Master of Fine Arts from Tyler in 1960. She was commissioned to paint official oil portraits of such notable Pennsylvanians as George Leader, Governor of Pennsylvania (1955-1959); Alfred Williams, Dean of the Wharton School...
Category

Mid-20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Paul Collomb, Paris, Eiffel Tower, Invalides, The Beautiful View, Oil on Canvas
Located in Saint Amans des cots, FR
Oil on canvas by Paul Collomb (1921-2010), France, 1960s. The beautiful view. Measurements : with frame: 54.5x41.2 cm - 21.5x16.2 inches, without frame: 46x33 cm - 18.1x13 inches, fo...
Category

1960s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Previously Available Items
Flow of the Vineyard
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Flow of the Vineyard" is an oil on canvas painting by Kim Douglas Wiggins. The framed piece measures 13 1/4 x 16 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches. Signed lower left "KD...
Category

Late 20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Untitled" is an oil on canvas painting by Kim Douglas Wiggins. The framed piece measures 32 3/4 x 38 5/8 x 3 1/4 inches. Provenance: Private Collection
Category

Late 20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Untitled
Untitled
H 29.5 in W 23.5 in
Reford Gardens (Jardin de Metis) - 20th century, expressionistic, oil on board
Located in Bloomfield, ON
In stunning colour and detail, Quebec artist Bruno Côté has rendered the famous Métis gardens—one of Canada’s most treasured historic sites that sits on the...
Category

1980s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Butterfly
Located in Paris, FR
Bernard BUFFET 1928-1999 French Papillon, 1957, Oil on Canvas Signed and dated lower right, A certificate of authenticity by the Galerie Maurice Granier will be remitted to the buy...
Category

20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Butterfly
Butterfly
H 50.4 in W 63 in D 4.73 in
Torero
Located in Paris, FR
Bernard BUFFET 1928-1999 French Torero, 1958, Oil on Canvas Signed and dated upper left A certificate of authenticity by the Galerie Maurice Granier will be remitted to the buyer. ...
Category

20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Torero
Torero
H 63 in W 50.4 in D 5.91 in
La Tour Eiffel et le Pont de Grenelle
Located in Paris, FR
Bernard BUFFET 1928-1999 French "La Tour Eiffel et le Pont de Grenelle", 1960, Mixed Media, Signed and dated upper right A certificate of authenticity by the Galerie Maurice Granie...
Category

20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

Figure oil painting by Jankel Adler Polish artist
Located in London, GB
Figure by Jankel Adler (1895 - 1949) Oil on canvas 110 x 85 cm (43 ¼ x 33 ½ inches) Executed 1940s Artist biography: Jankel Adler was born in Lodz, Poland and lived a life of wande...
Category

20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Reclining Female Nude
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed with the artist's monogram lower right corner Konig was a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement of art nouveau. His work is quite rare Condition: Very good Colors ...
Category

1890s Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Paravent "Monuments de Paris"
Located in Paris, FR
Bernard BUFFET (1928-1999) Paravent "Monuments de Paris", 1967 Four Leaves Screen. Mourlot Lithograph. Signed and numbered 14/100 Subject: 64 5/8" high x 80 3/8" wide Bernard Buf...
Category

Late 20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Lithograph

Bouquet de Liliums
Located in Paris, FR
Bernard BUFFET 1928-1999 French Bouquet de Liliums, 1981 Oil on Canvas Signed upper right and dated upper left Canvas: 28 3/4" high x 19 3/4 wide Frame: 39" high x 29 1/2" wide B...
Category

Late 20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Bouquet de Liliums
Bouquet de Liliums
H 40.16 in W 35.44 in D 3.15 in
Château d'Azay-le-Rideau
Located in Paris, FR
Bernard Buffet 1928-1999 French Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, 1969 Oil on Panel Signed and dated on the top middle Panel:21 1/4" high x 28 3/4" wide Frame: 31 7/8" high ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Panel, Oil

Château d'Azay-le-Rideau
Château d'Azay-le-Rideau
H 31.89 in W 39.38 in D 3.55 in
La Corrida, Tete de Torero (Corrida, Toreador's head)
Located in Paris, FR
Bernard Buffet 1928-1999 French La Corrida, Tête de Torero (Corrida, Toreador's head), 1966 Oil on canvas Signed and dated Canvas : 25 3/4 high x 18 1/2 in. wide Frame: 37 3/8&q...
Category

Late 20th Century Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Expressionist paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Expressionist 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 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, orange, purple, green and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Iryna Kastsova, Maria Asuncion Raventos, Masri Hayssam, and Evelyne Ballestra. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil 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 paintings, so small editions measuring 1 inches across are also available.

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