German Expressionism: The World War I Impact

Arianah Keten
Professor Hoeschen
Humanities 2250
25 September 2015

German Expressionism: The World War I Impact
Expressionism, particularly German Expressionism, was an art movement that occurred in the early nineteen-hundreds. The birth of the movement happened in 1905 and its goal was to express oneself. In other words, Expressionism is an art movement that artists partaked in to create works that came from inner emotions and experiences rather than portray the world physicality realistically. (Thorn) The artist interprets a physical object differently and their work represents their perspective and personality. In contrast, to Western naturalism and Impressionism. It is significant to note the different styles that come into play in a

In the painting, Macke uses dark colors to describe the grim mood of fear and anxiety many people were feeling when the war dragged on longer than they expected. The people do not have faces to express their emotions towards the war. They are blank. Sadly, Macke died in battle in the second month of the war in September 1914. ("August Macke Biography")
As a result of World War I, Der Blaue Reiter dissolved in 1914. Der Blaue Reiter had emphasis on color theory. All colors meant different things or had different attributes. Unexpectedly, the leaders of the group, Kandinsky and Marc, were removed from the group. Kandinsky had to return to Russia because of his citizenship and Russians and Germans were not on the same side at the time. As previously stated, Marc died in battle. Since the founding leaders vanished the whole group disappeared as

Kirchner was discharged from the army in 1915 for having a mental breakdown. Soon after, he painted his famous Self Portrait as a Soldier. The painting illustrates him without his right hand. Although Kirchner did not suffered physical harm, he suffered mental harm. The work itself represents his fears and anxiety he has about the war even though he has already been discharged. (Sayre 1144) One may endure physical hardship during was but one may also suffer emotional damage as well that can even be more detrimental. Regardless, Kirchner also painted Self Portrait as a Sick Person in 1918, which illustrates himself suffering with post traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism and a few other conditions he suffered from. (Aronson and Ramachandran) Even though Kirchner was still well alive after and during the war, he was not a reliable source of consistent artwork because of his mental