Expressionist artists

Author: (German) Du Bei / Zhang Yanmeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: "As for me, I understand that I have no program, only nameless desires, a desire to grasp what I see and feel, a desire to find a pure way of expression." German Expressionist artist and co-initiator of the "Bridge Group" movement in Dresden, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, expressed the essence of this revolutionary art movement. This movement overturned the stifling German academicism under Emperor Wilhelm and sparked a peak of extraordinary creative activity between 1900 and 1914. A senior curator from the Bayerische Nationalgem?ldegalerie, drawing heavily on the artist's vivid and thought-provoking words, narrates a story that has made an extremely crucial and significant contribution to the history of 20th-century art. "In summary, among the published works on 20th-century German art, this book is the most outstanding and concise." — Books and Bookmen In fact, the planning of this book is both cool-headed and ingenious. — The Times Literary Supplement
Before the establishment of the German Empire in 1871, the territory of Germany was divided into many independent states. Under this political situation, closed schools of artistic thought and practice developed within each state and maintained a trend of expansion within their political and geographical regions for a period of time. Although a nationwide art form or movement failed to emerge, there was a significant overlap and similarity in artistic trends across the states, with little coordination or exchange. Comparing the situation of the German Empire's establishment with that of France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this characteristic becomes even more apparent. In France, the various forces that contributed to artistic development were concentrated in the capital, Paris, allowing a new trend to develop in a logical and persuasive manner.