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Expressionist Art

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
Original-canvas, Golden Period-Benton Irises II, flower, expression, Modern
Located in London, GB
Original Painting, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas on board. 30x 40 x 0.3 CM -Artist's Lifetime Warranty for the original artwork. -come with an Authenticity Certificate and signed. About...
Category

2010s Expressionist Art

Materials

Gesso, Oil, Acrylic

Angie Print Limited Edition
Located in London, GB
original watercolor on paper "Angie" is sold Print Limited edition hand signed is available 2/27
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Paper, Color

TWO CRANES
Located in Santa Monica, CA
NORBERTINE BRESSLERN ROTH (Austrian 1891-197) TWO CRANES ca. 1920 Color woodcut signed in pencil. Image 9 ¾ x 7 1/8 inches. On fine fibrous paper. Full s...
Category

1920s Expressionist Art

Materials

Woodcut

In Blue
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
In Blue, Yes, I'm in blue not because I choose to but because that's who l am and it tells my story. With a hoodie because I came from this very hood. I drank of its waters, and bat...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

GEFALLEN (Killed in Action)
Located in Santa Monica, CA
KATHE KOLLWITZ (1867-1945) GEFALLEN (Killed in Action) 1920 (Klipstein 153 (1st state, a of c of 2 states) Lithograph on laid paper. Image 16 ¼ x 15 ¼ inches, Large Full Sheet, 25 ½...
Category

1920s Expressionist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Modella" Matita cm. 50 x 70 1962
Located in Torino, IT
Disegno espressionista Figura femminile Artista Italiano che ha dedicato la vita all'arte Edgardo CORBELLI (Torino, 1918 – 1989) MUSEI Orléans, Francia, Musée Collégiale Saint Pier...
Category

1960s Expressionist Art

Materials

Paper, Graphite

Dancing Karoll
Located in London, GB
If you love history of art and looking for something that encloses its best tradition in one brushstroke, you have found it. materpiece of virtousity and essentiality.A brushstr...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Tempera, Watercolor

Man his cigarette and his girl
Located in London, GB
Original watercolour painting on paper hand signed a couple watching the artist in Soho. London busy nights out. Cigarette, wine and talks. Glances, smiles and laugh.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Pencil

Golden Period-Benton Irises, Artist Proof#1/3, hand paint, expression, UK Artist
Located in London, GB
- This is a hand painted finishing by artist in a Large sized (60 x 80 CM) Artist's Proof made on canvas, each proof is unique. -Due to the hand-painted nature, details may vary, ea...
Category

2010s Expressionist Art

Materials

Gesso, Acrylic

Mount Rushmore - Oil on canvas painting
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln are forever immortalized on Mount Rushmore in S. Dakota, symbolizing the ideals of freedom and democracy and a promise to the future. Bl...
Category

2010s Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Brooke (Blue Waves)" Photography 40" x 30" inch Edition 3/3 by Larsen Sotelo
Located in Culver City, CA
"Brooke (Blue Waves)" Photography 40" x 30" inch Edition 3/3 by Larsen Sotelo FRAMED Giclee (Archival Ink) print on 310G Platine Fibre Cotton Rag w/satin finish Full bleed dry mou...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée

Musée des Arts Décoratifs (The Scream) Poster
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: (after) Edvard Munch (Norwegian, 1863-1944) Title: "Musée des Arts Décoratifs (The Scream)" Year: 1969 Medium: Original Lithograph, Exhibition ...
Category

1960s Expressionist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Caroline (Darkness) Original photography Edition 1/3 by Larsen Sotelo
Located in Culver City, CA
Caroline (Darkness) Original photography Edition 1/3 by Larsen Sotelo FRAMED Giclee (Archival Ink) print on 310G Platine Fibre Cotton Rag w/satin fini...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée

Alfons Alphons Müller (1898-1955) Fruit Still Life Oil Painting Switzerland 1942
Located in Meinisberg, CH
Alfons / Alphons Müller (Swiss, * 24.8.1898 Mitlödi, † 8.6.1955 Biel) Still Life with a Quince, an Apple and Grapes • Oil on artist board, ca. 31 x 33 cm • Frame, ca. 41 x 43 cm • ...
Category

1940s Expressionist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Vintage Mid Century Modern Swedish Landscape Framed Oil Painting - Lake Houses
Located in Bristol, GB
LAKE HOUSES Size: 55 x 65 cm (including frame) Oil on board A lively and scenic modernist landscape composition, executed in oil onto board. The composition presents a picturesque view of houses by...
Category

1960s Expressionist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

FACE OF THE NIGHT(Octavio Paz) Hand Lithography Poster, Abstract Expressionist
Located in Union City, NJ
FACE OF THE NIGHT (For Octavio Paz) is a limited run lithograph exhibition poster printed in multiple colors using traditional hand lithography techniques (not a photo reproduction) ...
Category

1980s Expressionist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Self Portrait
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Jirayr Zorthian(1911-2004), went through two Turkish massacres before age eight. He left Turkey at age nine with his family and spent a year in Padua, Italy, waiting for his visa to...
Category

1950s Expressionist Art

Materials

Oil

Dog and Pinga
Located in New York, NY
Wax pastel drawing on paper.
Category

2010s Expressionist Art

Materials

Wax Crayon

After School
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
GRACIELA RODO BOULANGER (1935- ) Regarded as one of the most collected female artists in the world, Graciela Rodo Boulanger is recognized for her unique treatment of the continuous ...
Category

1980s Expressionist Art

Materials

Offset

Fishing Village
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
HESHI YU (1935- ) Yu's original style of painting is well known and widely sought for it's abstract beauty. His work successfully combines geometric and figurative images in the art...
Category

1980s Expressionist Art

Materials

Offset

Oda a la Alegria
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
GRACIELA RODO BOULANGER (1935- ) Regarded as one of the most collected female artists in the world, Graciela Rodo Boulanger is recognized for her unique treatment of the continuous ...
Category

1980s Expressionist Art

Materials

Offset

FAMILY Signed Lithograph, Space Family Portrait, Latin American Woman Artist
Located in Union City, NJ
Raquel Forner (1902-1988) Argentine woman painter and printmaker born in Buenos Aires in 1902 and died in the same city in 1988, regarded as one of the best Argentine female painters...
Category

1980s Expressionist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Dancers print
Located in London, GB
Original digital color print on paper 20x25cm limited edition 2 of 27 hand signed
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Paper, Color, Digital

Still Time 1 woman figurative portraiture expressionist female contemporary oil
Located in London, Chelsea
This contemporary painting by Iryna Yermolova captures a vibrant figurative study of a woman sitting. This pieces expressive nature gives it a fantastic sense of fluidity which is dr...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The One That Got Away. Smoking man in antique bathtub soft green tones humorous
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This is an oil on wood painting. There is a rough stipple texture to this work achieved by mixing a pumice like compound into the primer. The work is consistent with the artists humo...
Category

Early 2000s Expressionist Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

"Two Yellow Parakeets and the Surviving Plant" Oil Painting by Pat Berger
Located in Pasadena, CA
There is something mesmerizing about the paintings of Pat Berger - a captivating force that immediately draws us in. Her work is characterized by a unique c...
Category

1950s Expressionist Art

Materials

Oil

Tropical bouquet Watercolor painting with Gold Interior Flowers Art Aquarelle
Located in Sempach, LU
A watercolor painting with a potala for modern interior. A watercolor painting with bright tropical flowers and juicy monstera leaves, decorated with golden potala. Saturated, contr...
Category

2010s Expressionist Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Face
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Charles Pachter (b. 1942) is one of the most collected and cherished Canadian artists. His iconic, uplifting, and patriotic images have independently earned their place in the nation...
Category

1960s Expressionist Art

Materials

Screen

"Swimmers" Vibrant Expressionist Figurative Scene
Located in Austin, TX
Pep Suari 14.75" x 40" Acrylic on Board
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Acrylic, Board

Portrait of a Gentleman, Large Modernist Oil Painting
Located in Surfside, FL
BENJAMIN KOPMAN (1887 - 1965) Painter, Illustrator and printmaker Benjamin Kopman was born in Vitebsk, Russia and emigrated to the United States with his family in 1903. It was a cen...
Category

Mid-20th Century Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Bountiful, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Amanda Dagg presents a stunning pink blossom tree that epitomizes the essence of nature at its best. She depicts the tree in full bloom, with delicate bl...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Acrylic

Photo Finish - Horses Racing, Horse Racing Art, Animal Art, Sports Painting
Located in Deddington, GB
Photo Finish -Horses Racing an original painting by Garth Bayley. Pen and ink Capturing the moment the horses fly past the posts Affordable art. Discover works by Garth Bayley online...
Category

2010s Expressionist Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Boats in Color, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Robert Hofherr presents a view of workboats reinterpreted with expressionist color and minimal detail. Blocks of color combine with the selective use of ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Acrylic

Down Exeter Street, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Robert Hofherr exhibits an expressionist view of the memorable Exeter Street in England. The simplified cityscape creates visual energy with doses of bol...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Acrylic

A Series of Strong Diagonals, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A harbor with sailboats receives the expressionist treatment with bold color and expressive paint handling in artist Robert Hofherr's work. The strong diagonal ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Acrylic

Lady with Cats, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Diana Elena Chelaru presents an expressionist portrait of a lady with her two cats. She communicates her love for them through gentle caresses as they sl...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Acrylic

Sonoran Trio, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Sharon Sieben shares an expressionist rendering of cacti. The last rays of sun glimmer across the Sonoran Desert. Majestic dust covers the Saguaro's arms...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Acrylic

Cloaks 3: Expose
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Cloaks 3: Expose" is a poignant and powerful artwork that speaks to the issue of oppression, marginalization, and societal judgment. The painting features a figure draped in a cloak,...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Europa: squatting figure original hand signed lithograph Expressionist Kokoschka
Located in Norwich, GB
A wonderful hand signed lithograph by the Master of Expressionism, who was deemed "the most degenerate of the degenerate" by the Nazi regime! I depicts a strange squatting figure and...
Category

1970s Expressionist Art

Materials

Handmade Paper, Lithograph

Summer Bales II, Contemporary Landscape Painting, Original Rural Artwork
Located in Deddington, GB
Small scale impressionist style painting of 'Summer Bales' in the countryside by Rupert Aker Featuring his signature gestural brush strokes and impasto and textured paint layering. R...
Category

2010s Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Anatole Krasnyansky Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Anatole Krasnyansky: 1930-2023. Well listed Ukrainian American artist who just passed away a few months ago. He has had auction results higher than $7100. He was born in Kyiv and emi...
Category

Late 20th Century Expressionist Art

Materials

Acrylic, Watercolor

Stay With Me
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
'Stay with me' highlights the importance of company and friendships in our lives for days when we are not strong alone. While considering the positive role companionship takes in lon...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Pencil, Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

The Chess Game Texture Print By Renowned Italian Artist Francesco Beda
By Francesco Beda
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
RESTORED, numbered and RARE Vintage Textured Print After The Famous Painting "Chess Game" by Italian Artist FRANCESCO BEDA in a beautiful Large hand carved oak Wood Frame from 1970. ...
Category

16th Century Expressionist Art

Materials

Handmade Paper

Vintage Mid-Century Modern Framed Street Scene - The Pathway, Watercolour
Located in Bristol, GB
THE PATHWAY Size: 44 x 37 cm (including frame) Watercolour on paper A vibrant and striking mid-century street scene composition, executed in watercolour on paper. The painting depi...
Category

1950s Expressionist Art

Materials

Watercolor

Vintage Mid-Century Modern Interior Still Life - Tabletop Setting, Watercolour
Located in Bristol, GB
TABLETOP SETTING Size: 51 x 43cm (including frame) Watercolour and gouache on paper A lively and expressive mid-century still life composition, executed in watercolour and gouache o...
Category

1950s Expressionist Art

Materials

Gouache, Watercolor

Phantom of the Brotherhood
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
"Phantom of the Brotherhood" describes the hoax of the reality of man and his flowers. At the center of his burdens, accomplishments, and rest; mostly his brothers dare to acknowledg...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic, Pencil

Mammy
Located in London, GB
original watercolour on paper hand signed 2023 21x21cm
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Oil, Paper, Tempera, Watercolor

Benton Irises, UK award artist, Original, ink on handmade paper, rare, sensual.
Located in London, GB
Rare chance to own Shizico's original artwork from this one-off auction offer, NO Reserve! Original ink on handmade paper 30x 21 x 0.1 CM -Artist's Lifetime Warranty for the origi...
Category

2010s Expressionist Art

Materials

Ink, Handmade Paper

Der Racher (The Avenger)
Located in Chicago, IL
This powerful bronze is one of Ernst Barlach's most important works and an icon of German Expressionist sculpture. A rare opportunity to own a piece of history. The work is signed ...
Category

1910s Expressionist Art

Materials

Bronze

Vintage Circa 1968 flowers litho print by Bernard Buffet
Located in Pasadena, CA
A lithograph by French artist Bernard Buffet (1928 - 1999) . This lithograph is signed in the plate, and was published by the Collector's Guild, NY. Societe de verification de la nou...
Category

1960s Expressionist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Portrait Boy" Oil Painting 14.5" x 20" inch by Shaaban Zaki
Located in Culver City, CA
"Portrait Boy" Oil Painting 14.5" x 20" inch by Shaaban Zaki signed & dated Shaaban Zaki came from a lower-middle-class family who was mostly government employees, but he was disti...
Category

20th Century Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage Mid-Century Modern Swedish Framed Figurative Painting - Seated Figures
Located in Bristol, GB
SEATED FIGURES Size: 47 x 38 cm (including frame) Watercolour and pastel on paper An outstanding mid-century figurative composition, executed in pastel and watercolour on paper. Pa...
Category

1950s Expressionist Art

Materials

Oil Pastel, Watercolor

"White & Blue Flowers on Dark Green Background, " Acrylic signed by Reginald Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"White & Blue Flowers on Dark Green Background" is an original acrylic painting by Reginald K. Gee. The artist signed and dated the piece in the lower right corner. It depicts a bouq...
Category

Early 2000s Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

"As I Waste Time on Earth, " Oil Pastel Abstract Landscape by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"As I Waste Time on Earth" is an original oil pastel drawing on rag board by Reginald K. Gee. The artist signed it on the back. This piece depictts two faces in the lower left, two f...
Category

1990s Expressionist Art

Materials

Oil Pastel, Board, Rag Paper

"Whew!, " Oil Pastel on Grocery Bag Landscape signed by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Whew!" is an original oil pastel drawing on a grocery bag by Reginald K. Gee. The artist signed the piece in the lower left. It depicts a man on a motorcycle doing a wheelie on a be...
Category

Early 2000s Expressionist Art

Materials

Oil Pastel, Found Objects

Screenprint Serigraph Art Print WPA Artist NYC Frank Kleinholz Children Playing
Located in Surfside, FL
Frank Kleinholz (Brooklyn, 1901 - 1987) 1963 Children playing in park Screenprint, serigraph Born in Brooklyn, New York, Frank Kleinholz was a painter based in New York City whose work spanned several art movements including Expressionism and Social Realism. His work was strongly influenced by Max Beckmann, is a late survival of the social com­mentary expressionism of the WPA era; His early lithograph works were intensely personal and reflected the influence of the Depression and the World Wars, but his palette lightened as he increasingly focused on families and the bonds between adults and children. He was contemporary of William Gropper and Ben Shahn. As the son of a blind father and hard-working mother who supported the family with a delicatessen. From early childhood, he had to earn a living and sold newspapers and ran errands for local businesses. He graduated from Fordham Law School, and at age 23 was admitted to the bar. In the mid-1930s, while practicing insurance as well as law, he began oil painting and printmaking with teachers including Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Sol Wilson. He gained quick recognition and between 1941 and 1980 participated in numerous exhibitions including the National Academy of Design, the Brooklyn Museum and the Worcester Art Institute. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Kleinholz graduated Fordham Law School in 1923. In the 1930s, he began studying painting under Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Sol Wilson. He quickly rose to prominence with the inclusion of Abstract art in the Carnegie Institute exhibition of 1941. His painting Backstreet won a purchase prize by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Chronology His strongest influences were American Social Realists Reginald Marsh and Philip Evergood, the German Expressionists George Grosz and Kathe Kollwitz, the Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, Jorge Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, and the early 20th century Paris Modernists. Described by Newsweek as a "Brooklyn-born Gauguin," Kleinholz focused on urban life in New York, Brooklyn and Coney Island, as well as intimate, social realist scenes of parents and children, watercolor paintings of flowers and birds, and sunbathers. His political works include anti war paintings...
Category

20th Century Expressionist Art

Materials

Watercolor, Lithograph

Duke
Located in London, GB
2022 hand signed watercolour
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Paper, Tempera, Watercolor

phenix
Located in London, GB
2022 hand signed watercolour
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Paper, Tempera, Watercolor

Expressionist art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Expressionist art 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 art 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, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Iryna Kastsova, George Grosz, Anastasia Kurakina, and Stephen Basso. 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 art, so small editions measuring 1 inches across are also available.

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