Expressionism In John Munch's 'A Censored Soul'

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A Censored Soul Expressionism is classified as a movement of modernism. This art form initially started in poetry and later working into painting, starting in Germany and Eastern Europe in the 20th century. The basis of expressionism is to convey the world as it is seen through a personal perspective, usually being distorted in order to arouse ideas and emotions, it aimed to show the meaning of emotional encounters rather than reality itself. A Censored Soul (Figure 1) has a meaning that the opinions of ordinary people are irrelevant in modern day society. It follows the lines of expressionism as it expresses the opinion of the fact that if you are not important enough, you are nobody. If conveys an emotive side as the words spray painted over the faces of the beings are preventing people from access to possibly brilliant solutions and ideas, demining the intelligence of your common everyday Joe. “True artistic expressionism lies in conveying emotion” – Angel Haze (What Haze is saying is that without …show more content…

Munch’s work tells a story of his personal journey and emotions. A Censored Soul is showing a general picture of how the opinions and ideas of people are suppressed and are made to make the people feel ashamed if they do not fit into the ideals of modern day society. This leaves the person with conflicting thoughts as to whether or not each idea or suggestion they have might be unacceptable, leaving them in a constant battle with their subconscious and thoughts. Another difference between the two works is that Edvard Munch painted in an unrealistic style, as done in expressionism, whereas A Censored Soul was painted realistically and eclectic pieces of expressionism were used to create the final piece. The use of colour is also quite varied between the two pieces as Munch used heavier warm colours and A Censored Soul contains lighter more cool colours, rendering different