Expressionism is an artistic style whereby artists seek to depict subjective emotions and their responses to scenes and objects rather than to factual, objective reality.

There are many forms of Expressionism. We will cover the influences, stylistic features, and goals of major Expressionist artists during the beginning of the 20th century in Europe. In this two-part presentation on Modern Art, we will investigate the contribution of the French Fauves (“Wild Beasts”) and the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (“The Blue Rider”).

A fervent passion to create art that revealed inner emotion was so intense during this time that it was almost a religious calling. The goal of artists during this era were to use composition, line, form, and color most of all, as a means of connecting to an inner spirit. Vassily Kandinsky expressed those pursuits in his famous treatise, On the Spiritual in Art.

We will look at the extraordinary collection of artists who converged in Paris in 1905, notably Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, and others who formed the Fauves. Then we will venture into Germany to see what Der Blaue Reiter group were cooking up in Munich. Along the way we will take note of the significant contribution of woman artists, such as Gabrielle Munter and Marianne von Werefkin who were influential in promoting the ideas of the group, but who have been subsumed over the century under the more dominant male figures. It is time to give those female artists their due, along with the famous male figures of the day.