Expressionist Photography
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.
2010s Expressionist Photography
Archival Pigment
1980s Expressionist Photography
Silver Gelatin
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Mixed Media, Oil, Board
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Rag Paper, Archival Ink, Giclée
2010s Expressionist Photography
Archival Pigment
2010s Expressionist Photography
Archival Pigment
2010s Expressionist Photography
Archival Pigment
2010s Expressionist Photography
Archival Pigment
2010s Expressionist Photography
Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Archival Pigment
1970s Expressionist Photography
Archival Pigment, Archival Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Mixed Media
2010s Expressionist Photography
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment
1960s Expressionist Photography
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper, Digital
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Digital, Color
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
1980s Expressionist Photography
Inkjet
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Color, Photographic Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Digital, Color
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Black and White, Canvas, Photographic Film
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Color, Digital, Photographic Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Color, Photographic Paper, Digital
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Digital, Color
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Digital, Color
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Digital, Color
21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper, Cotton, Digital
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper, Digital
1980s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Film, Watercolor
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper, Digital
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper, Digital
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
1970s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper
2010s Expressionist Photography
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment, Photographic Paper
1970s Expressionist Photography
Inkjet
1960s Expressionist Photography
Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
2010s Expressionist Photography
Archival Paper, Archival Ink, Inkjet