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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
Don't Rush Life 2 - 21st Century Contemporary Figurative, Portrait, Africa, Men
Don't Rush Life 2 - 21st Century Contemporary Figurative, Portrait, Africa, Men

Don't Rush Life 2 - 21st Century Contemporary Figurative, Portrait, Africa, Men

By Elijah Olanase

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Where am from Bandana was once a common style, we called it Big Boy Style, then it's seem to me like a style or fashion only, because our elder brothers only allowed to used it but n...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Blooming lotus pond, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas

Blooming lotus pond, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas

By LE ANH TUAN

Located in Yardley, PA

This is an impressive Acrylic painting of a blooming lotus pond. The painting is painted in an expressionist style with freehand strokes and bright colors, bringing a lively and vibr...

Category

2010s Expressionist Art

Materials

Acrylic

Perfect Duet -21st Century Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Floral Mixed Media
Perfect Duet -21st Century Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Floral Mixed Media

Perfect Duet -21st Century Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Floral Mixed Media

By Gobe Joseph

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. About Artist Gob...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Expressionist Colorful Landscape Oil Paint : San Antonio
Expressionist Colorful Landscape Oil Paint : San Antonio

Expressionist Colorful Landscape Oil Paint : San Antonio

By Chico Montilla

Located in Segovia, ES

San Antonio . Oil on canvas by Spanish artist Chico Montilla. Measurements: (H) 65 x (W) 81 x 2 (D) cm. Framed 85 x 101 x 5 cm. San Antonio, another expressionist view of the countr...

Category

Early 1900s Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Max Eisler Eine Nachlese folio "Girlfriends II" collotype print
Max Eisler Eine Nachlese folio "Girlfriends II" collotype print

Max Eisler Eine Nachlese folio "Girlfriends II" collotype print

By (after) Gustav Klimt

Located in Palm Beach, FL

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler #1, Die Freundinnen II; multi-color collotype after 1916/17 painting in oil on canvas which was destroyed by fire in May 1945 at Immendorf Castle Lower Austria. Eisler’s choice to begin his 1931 portfolio of works by Klimt with Girlfriends II was both bold and prescient. Just 14 years later, the painting was tragically destroyed in a fire. With such a loss, this rare and exquisite image is all the more valuable by virtue of having been made in color. In works from his late period, Klimt continued his fascination with exploring female dynamics and their various forms of love. Girlfriends II is a fine example of how space, color and ornament play a noticeable role in the evolution of his symbolic language. Wide swaths of space in the background as well as the two female forms create the structure. Klimt’s strong brushstrokes show a painterly quality and a new move toward abstraction which feels very far away from his earlier work. Nor should Klimt’s economy of line be overlooked. His draughtsmanship is what infuses the female bodies with movement, emotion and a profundity of life. Both women confront the viewer’s gaze unselfconsciously, as if they are modern-day Viennese women stepping out of a Klimtesque ukiyo-e print. Characteristic of this late period, Klimt uses ornament...

Category

1930s Expressionist Art

Materials

Paper

3 Whisper of the Adriatic Venice Biennale 2026 Project
3 Whisper of the Adriatic Venice Biennale 2026 Project

3 Whisper of the Adriatic Venice Biennale 2026 Project

By Elena Lukina

Located in Zofingen, AG

THE PROJECT: INDEPENDENT PAVILION VENICE 2026 This work is a cornerstone of the "In Minor Keys: The Turquoise Silence" series — a large-scale artistic manifesto created specifically ...

Category

2010s Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Linen, Oil

Focus Mixed Media Painting on Canvas, Expressionist, 21st Century
Focus Mixed Media Painting on Canvas, Expressionist, 21st Century

Focus Mixed Media Painting on Canvas, Expressionist, 21st Century

By Taiwo Odejinmi

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure FREE Shipping Worldwide Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authent...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Charcoal, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Brutalist Expressionist Ceramic Head Sculpture Testa Nº12 – Refractory Stoneware
Brutalist Expressionist Ceramic Head Sculpture Testa Nº12 – Refractory Stoneware

Brutalist Expressionist Ceramic Head Sculpture Testa Nº12 – Refractory Stoneware

By Óscar Aldonza Torres

Located in FISTERRA, ES

This ceramic head sculpture from the Testas series, titled Testa Nº12, is an expressionist exploration of the human face in refractory stoneware fired in reduction. The sculpture pre...

Category

2010s Expressionist Art

Materials

Clay, Glaze

Come A Long Way 1 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Portrait, Oil, Modern, Fashion

Come A Long Way 1 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Portrait, Oil, Modern, Fashion

By Afolayan Emmanuel

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (Issued by the Gal...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

(after) Frans Masereel "Melancolie"
(after) Frans Masereel "Melancolie"

(after) Frans Masereel "Melancolie"

By Frans Masereel

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: collotype (after the woodcut). Printed in 1925 and published in Paris by Albert Morance for "L'Art d'Aujourd'hui", and now very scarce. Image size: 7 7/8 x 5 1/4 inches (200 ...

Category

1920s Expressionist Art

Materials

Photogravure

"Krankes Mädchen" original woodcut
"Krankes Mädchen" original woodcut

"Krankes Mädchen" original woodcut

By Erich Heckel

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: original woodcut. Printed in 1920 for the Deutsche Graphiker der Gegenwart portfolio, and published in Leipzig by Klinkhardt & Biermann in an edition of 500. Catalogue re...

Category

1920s Expressionist Art

Materials

Woodcut

Portrait of Friederike Maria Beer, Gustav Klimt An Aftermath collotype, 1931
Portrait of Friederike Maria Beer, Gustav Klimt An Aftermath collotype, 1931

Portrait of Friederike Maria Beer, Gustav Klimt An Aftermath collotype, 1931

By (after) Gustav Klimt

Located in Chicago, IL

Original 1931 collotype created from Gustav Kilmt’s Portrait of Friederike Maria Beer, oil on canvas, 1916. Published by Max Eisler and printed by Österreichischer Staatsdruckerei (Austrian State Printing Office), Vienna, in an edition of 500. In 1931, Max Eisler published the most notable posthumous collection of Gustav Klimt works to date. Using a complex gravure process, Klimt’s original oil paintings were painstakingly reproduced as collotypes on a handmade, deckled-edge cream wove paper. This world-class example of collotype captures the superb resolution and color-richness and ornamentation of the original 1916 oil painting. "Friederike-Maria suggested that Klimt should paint her in a Viennese Workshop dress; she wore these exclusively. She was also very proud of a fur coat she owned, particularly during the hardship of the First World War, and Klimt decided that she should wear the coat too, but inside out, so that the decorative lining, also by the Viennese Workshop, was visible. Klimt decided to make use of an imaginary oriental screen...

Category

1930s Expressionist Art

Materials

Paper

North West. Richard K Blades. Oil painting of the sea and sky Turner influence.
North West. Richard K Blades. Oil painting of the sea and sky Turner influence.

North West. Richard K Blades. Oil painting of the sea and sky Turner influence.

By Richard K Blades

Located in Coltishall, GB

North West - a tumultuous seascape beneath a dramatic sky. Blades' textured brushstrokes that merge shades of deep indigo and soft pink, suggest an impending storm. The transition fr...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Haystacks  in Nordmany

Haystacks in Nordmany

By Bernard Buffet

Located in New York, NY

This is a period when the artist saw the light differently and the journey all started in 1971. Bernard Buffet, the artist, was searching for subjects, looking to paint what he saw j...

Category

Late 20th Century Expressionist Art

Materials

Oil

The Port of Honfleur, Oil on Canvas, Expressionist, Framed, 1958
The Port of Honfleur, Oil on Canvas, Expressionist, Framed, 1958

The Port of Honfleur, Oil on Canvas, Expressionist, Framed, 1958

Located in London, GB

'The Port of Honfleur, France', oil on canvas, by Julien Varlet (1958). A vibrant and evocative harbour scene from the historic port city of Honfleur in Normandy, France. Colourful, ...

Category

1950s Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Les Quais a Venise
Les Quais a Venise

Les Quais a Venise

By Jean Jansem

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist: Jean Jansem (French/Armenian, 1920-2013) Title: Les Quais a Venise Year: 1966 Medium: Color lithograph Edition: Numbered 127/160 in pencil Paper: Arches paper Image size: 18....

Category

Mid-20th Century Expressionist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Self Love 3 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Portrait, Mixed Media, African Woman
Self Love 3 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Portrait, Mixed Media, African Woman

Self Love 3 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Portrait, Mixed Media, African Woman

By Oluwafemi Akanmu

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure FREE Shipping Worldwide Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Signed on the front side and accompanie...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Charcoal, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Gouache Watercolor Painting, Nantucket Harbor Boats American Deaf Modernist Art
Gouache Watercolor Painting, Nantucket Harbor Boats American Deaf Modernist Art

Gouache Watercolor Painting, Nantucket Harbor Boats American Deaf Modernist Art

By Robert Freiman

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...

Category

1980s Expressionist Art

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache, Archival Paper

Souvenir of Resilience 3 -21st Century Contemporary, Figurative Portrait Fashion
Souvenir of Resilience 3 -21st Century Contemporary, Figurative Portrait Fashion

Souvenir of Resilience 3 -21st Century Contemporary, Figurative Portrait Fashion

By Gobe Joseph

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. About Artist Gob...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Vibrant Bowl of Cherries Oil Painting by Pierre Jerome
Vibrant Bowl of Cherries Oil Painting by Pierre Jerome

Vibrant Bowl of Cherries Oil Painting by Pierre Jerome

By Pierre Jerome

Located in Surfside, FL

approximate image size 13 3/4'' x 10 1/2'', frame size 22'' x 19''. Pierre Jerome French 1905-1982 During his 50+ year career as an artist, he won several major awards, including a...

Category

20th Century Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Les Acadiens, 1993, original lithograph by Jean Jansem, handsigned and numbered
Les Acadiens, 1993, original lithograph by Jean Jansem, handsigned and numbered

Les Acadiens, 1993, original lithograph by Jean Jansem, handsigned and numbered

By Jean Jansem

Located in Les Acacias GE, GE

Jean Jansem (1920-2013) Les acadiens, 1993 Lithographie sur papier Arches, justifiée E/A 16/30 Signée en bas à droite 65,5 x 50 cm / 76 x 56 cm Bibliographie: CR Jansem, 2000, n°9...

Category

Late 20th Century Expressionist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Still Life with Wildflowers, Oil Painting
Still Life with Wildflowers, Oil Painting

Still Life with Wildflowers, Oil Painting

By James Hartman

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Vases and pots support an array of textured wildflowers, standing out against a rich, dark background. A freeform stripe pattern on the tablecloth adds rhythm a...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Oil

Mediterranean Village of Mallorca oil on canvas painting
Mediterranean Village of Mallorca oil on canvas painting

Mediterranean Village of Mallorca oil on canvas painting

Located in Sitges, Barcelona

Artist: Bernat Sanjuan i Tarré (Barcelona, 1915 – Deià, Mallorca, 1979) Title: Mediterranean Village of Mallorca Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 65 × 92 cm (25.6 × 36.2 in) Framed:...

Category

1950s Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Lady In White 1 - 21st Century Contemporary, Figurative, Portrait, Women, Modern
Lady In White 1 - 21st Century Contemporary, Figurative, Portrait, Women, Modern

Lady In White 1 - 21st Century Contemporary, Figurative, Portrait, Women, Modern

By Olaniyi Timothy

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

She holds on to her integrity and purity. Lady in white captures a desire to be hidden, but her presence is revealed through her unquenched innermost beauty. Lady in white captures h...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Kinetic Motion: 18x24cm Impasto Oil on Canvas Panel (2024)
Kinetic Motion: 18x24cm Impasto Oil on Canvas Panel (2024)

Kinetic Motion: 18x24cm Impasto Oil on Canvas Panel (2024)

By Elena Lukina

Located in Zofingen, AG

"Kinetic Motion" is a vibrant 2024 original oil study from the prestigious series Gravity of Light: Marine Chronicles. Created as an intimate 18x24 cm work on professional canvas pan...

Category

2010s Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Cardboard

Natalie Bird, Summer Bloom, Original Still Life Floral Painting, Affordable Art
Natalie Bird, Summer Bloom, Original Still Life Floral Painting, Affordable Art

Natalie Bird, Summer Bloom, Original Still Life Floral Painting, Affordable Art

By Natalie Bird

Located in Deddington, GB

Summer Bloom [2021] Original Flowers Mixed media on board Image size: H:45 cm x W:3 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:45 cm x W:30 cm x D:30cm Framed Size: H:45 cm x W:45 cm x D:3cm Sold Framed Please note that insitu images are purely an indication of how a piece may look Summer Bloom is an original painting by Natalie Bird...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Mixed Media, Board

Away From The Lens 1 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Portrait, Oil, Women, Fashion

Away From The Lens 1 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Portrait, Oil, Women, Fashion

By Afolayan Emmanuel

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (Issued by the Gal...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

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 orange, blue, purple, green and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Iryna Kastsova, George Grosz, Stephen Basso, and Marc Chagall. 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.