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.
Mirando al Cielo 7 - Murmuration Japan Asiatic Landscape Photograph
By Rosa Basurto
Located in Brighton, GB
Mirando al Cielo 7 is a beautiful 30cm x 30cm Digital Print on 50cm x 50cm Cotton Paper. This is a Limited Edition of 9 + 2 Artist Proofs in this size. In this image by Spanish ph...
Photographic Paper, Digital, Color
Mirando al Cielo 6 - Murmuration Misty Country Landscape Photograph
By Rosa Basurto
Located in Brighton, GB
Mirando al Cielo 6 is a beautiful 30cm x 30cm Digital Print on 50cm x 50cm Cotton Paper. This is a Limited Edition of 9 + 2 Artist Proofs in this size. Rosa Basurto is a self-taught...
Photographic Paper, Color, Digital, C Print
Mirando al Cielo 5 - Countryside Murmuration Misty Landscape Photograph
By Rosa Basurto
Located in Brighton, GB
Mirando al Cielo 5 is a beautiful 30cm x 30cm Digital Print on 50cm x 50cm Cotton Paper. This is a Limited Edition of 9 + 2 Artist Proofs in this size. Rosa Basurto is a self-taught...
Photographic Paper, Color, C Print, Digital
Wall Street Bull - NYC Photography, 54"x36", Signed Limited Edition of 5
By Viet Chu
Located in New York, NY
"As a part of my Empty Streets of New York City series, I wanted to include the Wall Street Bull which represents one of the core tenet of the financi...
Archival Pigment
MetLife - NYC Architecture Photography, 54"x36", Signed Limited Edition of 5
By Viet Chu
Located in New York, NY
"Taken at around 6pm on Mar 28, 2020, Park Avenue was practically deserted and empty. I was standing on E 63rd St when I took this photo. I used a 70-200mm lens to compress the scene...
Archival Pigment
Mirando al Cielo 8 - Renaissance Landscape Swallows Murmuration Landscape
By Rosa Basurto
Located in Brighton, GB
Mirando al Cielo 8 is a beautiful 30cm x 30cm Digital Print on 50cm x 50cm Cotton Paper. This is a Limited Edition of 9 + 2 Artist Proofs in this size. Rosa Basurto is a self-taught...
Color, Digital, Photographic Paper, C Print
Mirando al Cielo 13 - Murmuration Countryside Landscape Photograph
By Rosa Basurto
Located in Brighton, GB
Mirando al Cielo 13 is a beautiful 30cm x 30cm Digital Print on 50cm x 50cm Cotton Paper. This is a Limited Edition of 9 + 2 Artist Proofs in this size. Rosa Basurto is a self-taug...
Color, Digital, Photographic Paper, C Print
Mirando al Cielo 3 - Lone Walker Countryside Murmuration Landscape Photograph
By Rosa Basurto
Located in Brighton, GB
Mirando al Cielo 3 is a beautiful 30cm x 30cm Digital Print on 50cm x 50cm Cotton Paper. This is a Limited Edition of 9 + 2 Artist Proofs in this size. Rosa Basurto is a self-taught...
Photographic Paper, Color, Digital, C Print
Mirando al Cielo 12 - Birds Murmuration Sky Landscape Photograph
By Rosa Basurto
Located in Brighton, GB
Mirando al Cielo 12 is a beautiful 30cm x 30cm Digital Print on 50cm x 50cm Cotton Paper. This is a Limited Edition of 9 + 2 Artist Proofs in this size. Rosa Basurto is a self-taug...
Color, Digital, Photographic Paper, C Print
Mirando al Cielo 15 - Murmuration Asiatic Countryside Landscape
By Rosa Basurto
Located in Brighton, GB
Mirando al Cielo 15 is a beautiful 30cm x 30cm Digital Print on 50cm x 50cm Cotton Paper. This is a Limited Edition of 9 + 2 Artist Proofs in this size. Rosa Basurto is a self-ta...
Color, Digital, Photographic Paper, C Print
Mirando al Cielo 2 - Misty Landscape Countryside Murmuration Photograph Print
By Rosa Basurto
Located in Brighton, GB
Mirando al Cielo 2 is a beautiful 30cm x 30cm Digital Print on 50cm x 50cm Cotton Paper. This is a Limited Edition of 9 + 2 Artist Proofs in this size. Rosa Basurto is a self-taught...
Cotton, Photographic Paper, Digital, C Print
$4,200
Hudson Yards Mood - NY Skyline Photography, 54"x36", Signed Limited Edition of 5
By Viet Chu
Located in New York, NY
"Standing at 16 ft tall, "Brick House" is a bronze statue made by artist Simone Leigh as an inaugural commission of the High Line Plinth (NYC) in 2019, wh...
Archival Pigment
Broome at Mercer - NYC Photography, 32"x54", Signed Limited Edition of 4
By Viet Chu
Located in New York, NY
" I started my Empty Streets of New York City series in SoHo at the start of the Covid pandemic (early 2020) because of the uniqueness and beautiy of the iron cast buildings, includi...
Archival Pigment
Mirando al Cielo 11 - Birds Murmuration in Sky Mountain Region Japan Photograph
By Rosa Basurto
Located in Brighton, GB
Mirando al Cielo 11 is a beautiful 30cm x 30cm Digital Print on 50cm x 50cm Cotton Paper. This is a Limited Edition of 9 + 2 Artist Proofs in this size. Rosa Basurto is a self-taugh...
Color, Digital, Photographic Paper, C Print
Manhattanhenge Phenomenon, Mystical Light Setting Sun, Manhattan Solstice
Located in Miami, FL
Mitchell Funk has been chronicling lighting effects in New York for over 50 years. This recent photography captures the magical moment of golden light pouring into 42nd street while...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment
Manhattanhenge Phenomenon, Mystical Light Setting Sun, Manhattan Solstice
Located in Miami, FL
Mitchell Funk has been chronicling lighting effects in New York for over 50 years. This recent photography captures the magical moment of golden light pouring into 42nd street while...
Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Old Las Vegas Dunes Hotel Neon
Located in Miami, FL
Mitchell Funk was a trailblazer in shooting neon signs with dramatic angles, acute compostion and powerful color. Although this is a nocturnal image it has vibrant life energy. ...
Inkjet
Dog Walker in Central Park Snow
Located in Miami, FL
Simultaneously, graphic and subtle, New York's classic Central Park South skyline is puntucated with a solitary figure with two dogs Signed and dated on lower right, numbered on v...
Photographic Paper
Bryant Park, New York City
Located in Miami, FL
Negative Color with colored gels creates a wonderfully fantasy of a classic urban park. The work was done in 1971 during the Psychedelic period. Signed , dated lower right, Edition ...
Photographic Paper
$4,400
H 48 in W 64 in
Desert Daze - light effect in California desert landscape with endless horizon
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
a series of images capturing the epic scale of the iconic landscapes of the American West Desert Daze by Frank Schott 48 x 64 inches / 122cm x 162cm signed edition of 7 30 x ...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
$1,400
H 16 in W 20 in D 1.75 in
Patrick Sansone, Club Diamond, 2023, Lambda C Print, Ed 1/10, Street Photography
Located in Darien, CT
Patrick Sansone uses analog cameras and film to create photographs that reference stillness, lure, and intermission. Decaying signage, abandoned indust...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Lambda
$5,000
H 20 in W 30 in
Tyler Shields - The Girl In The Mirror, Photography 2018, Printed After
Located in Greenwich, CT
Series: Suspense Chromogenic Print on Kodak Endura Luster Paper All available sizes and editions: 20" x 30" 30" x 40" 40" x 60" 48" x 72" 63" x 84" Editions of 3 + 2 Artist Proofs T...
Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Digital, Archiv...
Dunes
Located in New York, NY
Chromogenic print
Color, Photographic Paper, C Print
$2,900
H 26.5 in W 40 in D 1.5 in
Forte dei Marmi (framed) - iconic Italian beach resort on Mediterranean Sea
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
large format photograph of a sea of green sun umbrellas and yellow-green striped sun chairs, a Mediterranean pre-summer season study of Italian beach clubs in the iconic coastal reso...
Photographic Paper, Plexiglass, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
$3,000
H 27.5 in W 33.5 in
An Original Photograph Sean Scully Pueblo COA Rare Important Mexico coca cola
By Sean Scully
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original C-Print from Sean Scully's Pueblo Dzibalchen series (A Suite of 20) created in 2001. This work comes in a fantastic natural wood archival frame presentation. This series was shot by Scully in Campeche, Mexico. Photograph size: 20 x 24 in. Framed Size: 27.5 x 33.5 Painter, photographer, watercolorist, and printmaker Sean Scully roams the world with his camera, capturing its surfaces in places as far-flung as Mexico and the Aran Islands...
Photographic Paper, C Print
$2,300
H 28.25 in W 35 in
Concealed Vista, color photograph of landscape, forest and water
Located in New York, NY
Maria Passarotti graduated in 2000 with a BFA from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York. Her most recent photographs are inspired by the intersection o...
Color, Photographic Paper, C Print
$5,200
H 72.5 in W 58 in
Seascape XVII - large format photograph of a mesmerizing ocean surface
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
from a series of large scale photographs capturing a mesmerizing color palette of classic blue ocean SEASCAPE XVII by Frank Schott 72.5 x 58 inches / 184cm x 147cm signed edition...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Giclée, Archival Pigment
Caravan
Located in New York, NY
Chromogenic print
Color, Photographic Paper, C Print
Sunbathers, Jones Beach
Located in New York, NY
Digital Chromogenic print
Color, Photographic Paper, C Print
$2,900
H 30 in W 40 in D 2 in
Seascape I - framed - large format photograph of monochromatic horizon and sea
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
SEASCAPE I ( framed ) by Frank Schott from a series of photographic works capturing the sea blue color palette of the ocean 30 x 40 inches / 76cm x 102cm edition of 25 artist signed...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Plexiglass, Giclée
$991
H 19.69 in W 19.69 in D 0.04 in
Mirando al Cielo 3 - Lone Walker Countryside Murmuration Landscape Photograph
By Rosa Basurto
Located in Brighton, GB
Mirando al Cielo 3 is a beautiful 30cm x 30cm Digital Print on 50cm x 50cm Cotton Paper. This is a Limited Edition of 9 + 2 Artist Proofs in this size. Rosa Basurto is a self-taught...
Photographic Paper, Color, Digital, C Print
Sascha The Horse
By Kristina Gale
Located in East Hampton, NY
Sascha the Horse in a farm / field in the Hamptons Part of a series /100 C-Print on Kodak Paper Other barnyard animals : Hamlet the Pig, Stormy the Cow
C Print
Sascha The Horse
By Kristina Gale
Located in East Hampton, NY
Sascha the Horse in a farm / field in the Hamptons Part of a series /100 C-Print on Kodak Paper Other barnyard animals : Hamlet the Pig, Stormy the Cow
C Print
Sold
H 14.5 in W 16.5 in D 0.5 in
"Monterey Bay" - California Coastal Trees, Cyanotype / Watercolor Landscape
Located in Soquel, CA
Soft watercolor accents add to the beauty of this cyanotype and watercolor titled "Monterey Bay" by Cheryl Trotter (American, 20th century), 1994. Signed and dated lower right "Chery...
Watercolor, Laid Paper, Photographic Paper