“Expressionism refers to art in which the image of reality is distorted in order to make it expressive of the artist’s inner feelings or ideas.” (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/e/expressionism)
Characteristics
- Personal art form strives to convey personal feelings about the object painted, rather than merely record an observation of it.
- representational accuracy is sacrificed (distorted) in favor of strong outlines and bold colors to achieve maximum impact on the viewer
- Simpler and direct composition
- Impasto painting
- Free and loose brushstrokes
- Symbolism / Message goes first
Much, E. (Edvard Munch). (1918) “Bathing Man”. Norway
Kokoschka, O. (Oskar Kokoschka). (1939) “Polperro II”
Ludwig Kirchner, E. (Ernst Ludwig Kirchner). (1909-1926) “Bathers at Moritzburg”
Expressionism - artists Investigation
Antonio Berni
Expressionism in Latin America: Antonio Berni
The Argentinian painter Antonio Berni was born in 1905 and is known for depicting people, the neighborhood and everyday stories and anecdotes from his hometown in a realistic and surrealist way, moreover focused on social problems.
Characteristics of his art
● He gave importance to the social problems that existed in Argentina.
● His works have a critical sense against society, ideological and political.
● He also worked with popular themes of the town.
● It showed typical characteristics of Argentine society.
● It showed how children were exploited in Latin America.
● Many of his works were done in college.
● His works also expressed the poverty of the people.
His style:
While young, Antonio Berni traveled all over Europe, where he picked up the expressionist style and later leaned into the realist style. Ton finally, after years of artistic development unravel into the new realism and surrealism. This painting called “Los desocupados” shows the way in which workers and families ask for food and work. In these people’s eyes, only anxiety is shown. This painting conveys unity and strength and the workers’ faces reflect their exhaustion from exploitation. It is a work that shows the horrible reality that was lived but also hope.
Formal analysis of Antonio Berni' s "Los Desocupados"
- Artist: Antonio Berni
- Title: Desocupados
- Date: 1934
- Technique: Tempera on Burlap
- Origin: Argentina
- Colors: Berni has used a strong color palette of mostly primary and complementary colors. The colors that are more present are purple, red and yellow, in contrast to the blue, orange and green which are the least used. The tempera seems to have been mixed with different colors when applied by the artist. The tones are created by the use of light and shadow in this painting, the light seems to be coming from above and in front of the sleeping individuals. The broad use of light and shadows make the painting look pretty 3 dimensional even though the individuals have a cartoonish feeling. Use of media: The media used in this painting is tempera applied on burlap. From the visible smoothness I think that it is applied thinly with invisible brushstrokes. Very likely that Berni used really small brushes for all the details the artwork holds.
- Composition: The shapes used in this painting are a mixture of rounded shapes that create the individuals. Some parts of the composition are fuller than others due to the perspective used to place some individuals closer to the front, as the man wearing the purple jacket, and the four individuals at the center, but much smaller since they are painted to look far away. This painting lacks movement, this is because the humans present are all sleeping or resting.
- Mood emotion: I think that Berni’s intention towards the viewer was to create a sense of impotence and to self-check our perceptions of the working classes through the irony of them sleeping. In a sense, this work can be interpreted as if they were doing nothing, which is a common perception when talking about people in lower social classes. Yet, what the artist wanted to communicate is that they are all exhausted from the exploitation and neglect they suffer everyday.
José Sabogal
Expressionism in Latin America: Jose Sabogal, born in Peru and creator of the“indigenous” movement that brought together a group of talented artists after the expressionist movement. Very young, he traveled to Europe and Africa acquiring in all of them profitable experiences that enriched his cultural heritage.
Characteristics of his art:
- Taste for portraits and landscapes
- compositions with little movement and vibrant colors.
- The faces that Sabogal portrayed were highly expressive and far from a realistic representation of human anatomy.
- The female figure was always a constant in his portraits.
- The mestizo characteristics always highlighted by the artist proposed a new vision of the beauty ideals of the time.
- The landscapes the artist painted did not present a realistic perspective either, but they closely resemble the work and vision of artisans.
- In terms of the colors used, there is a great trend towards warm colors of earth tones, reds, in contrast to intense blues.
Hist style:
Sabogal promoted the rescue of themes of customs and the Peruvian landscape by portraying them with vivid colors and applying a fluid brushstroke with a vigorous composition, but due to his style many painters criticized his artwork and called him “el pintor de lo feo”/”the painter of the ugly”.
Formal analysis of Jose Sabogal's "Las Llamas"
- Artist: Jose Sabogal
- Title: Las llamas
- Date: 1987
- Technique: Oil on canvas
- Origin: Peru
- Colors: In this painting Jose Sabogal has used a narrow and dull palette. The biggest use of color that stands out are the complementary colors blue and orange, yet there is also use of a pale yellow for the ground. The cold dark blue for the background and the warm and vivid dark orange for the living lama create a contrast and make the vitality of the lama contrast with the dead or sick one that is on the ground. The dead lama is painted using tones by adding black and shadows mixed with the orange. The forms in the artwork do not look realistically painted, which correlates with the expressionist style of the painting, this is also because the tonal range of this painting is very narrow.
- The media used in this painting is oil on canvas, and it seems to be applied gently, with a lot of coats to create different textures. For example, the texture of the background: it seems to be a windy and uneasy sky. Also, the brush marks and coats create the texture of the fur of both llamas, yet the dead one has less texture and I think this also represents the bad state the body is in.
- Composition: The artist uses round and curved natural shapes to create both animals. Most of the shapes are placed towards the left side half of the canvas, leaving the right side almost empty, except for the head of the dead llama. Also, the motion in this painting seems to be a little contrasting in itself, since the background has a lot of movement because of its texture, but the llamas seem to be standing still. The center of interest in this painting is definitely the living llama, that is observing the viewer. When I saw this painting it was kind of shocking because I felt that the living llama was the young daughter of the dead mommy llama who had passed away, and since she is little she is staying with her, not knowing what to do. It made me feel very sad honestly at first sight, even though for other people it might just be to animals simply being there.
Francisco Hung
Expressionism in Latin America: Venezuelan painter born in Canton, China. He studied at the Julio Árraga School of Visual Arts in Maracaibo, later going to Paris and enrolling in the Superior School of Fine Arts. Back in Venezuela, he participated in the activities of the protest group 40 Degrees a la Sombra.
Characteristics of his art:
- Line: The line has enormous expressive richness. Represents, together with point, the simplest and most essential expression element for representing shapes
- Self Portrait: testimony of the physical and emotional variations that were produced through his image. In each self-portrait he left an imprint, just as he did when he signed his name on a drawing.
- Portrait : For Hung, portraying his family was a way of expressing his affection for them. His expressions were captured by quick, easy strokes. He drew without many details, with a synthetic criterion, with few lines or touches of color, enough to capture his characteristic gestures.
- “Valued line” : The line allows the artist to define the silhouette of things or to structure a composition of shapes. With it he suggests volumes, movement and rhythm.
His style:
Painting style showed the influence of European abstract expressionism. “His painting immediately awakens the feeling of speed, our most elementary reactions to a mechanical and chaotic world that he expresses with images and signs in vertigo, in the manner of impacts and collisions of masses that materially overflow the space they occupy in the painting. This enormous explosion of vital energies demands the most intense selection of media: the colors primary and complementary are used with exuberance following a procedure similar to that of action painting; they attract and repel each other axiomatically, with the violence of lightning, concentrating on large areas and vibrating with the highest accents as if they wanted to extract also the metallic hums of the strange evolutions and launches” – Juan Cazaldilla (Venezuelan art critic and writer)
Formal analysis of Francisco Hung's "El Regreso"
- Artist: Francisco Hung
- Title: El regreso
- Date: 1989
- Technique: Acrylic on canvas
- Origin: Venezuelan
- Color: In this painting by Francisco Hung, the palette that has been used is strong and narrow. It is composed mainly of the triad of primary colors yellow, blue and red. These colors appeal to the origins and life of Hung because they are the colors of the Venezuelan flag. Yet, in this painting orange, black and white are also included a little with some natural lines and outlines of the major shapes. The background is completely blue, with some textures done with a darker blue and some black for very thin lines. The red and yellow are used to fill in some geometrical shapes such as squares and rectangles. These shapes are not perfect since the artist uses a very strong and reckless use of the paint. He also seems to use large brushes to fill in the distorted shapes, and thinner ones for the dribble details. All aspects that combined create a very gestural use of paint. The media used in this painting is acrylic paint, this makes the paint coats seem very slender. Composition: In this painting the shapes used are geometrical shapes, mostly rectangles and squares which are sharp, but due to the gestural application of paint some of the edges are smoothed out or distorted. But, over the shapes the artist uses lines to create the same outline of the shape used with a little bit of inclination, this creates the movement that the painting portrays. The motion is also created through the use of squiggly lines all throughout the painting. Most of the shapes are placed in the center or upper side of the canvas, leaving the bottom half almost empty. This composition draws the eye directly to the colorful shapes and lines that contrast with the colder blue background. Explaining what this painting makes me feel is kind of hard for me because this was made by Hung after he returned to Venezuela after being in Europe studying for several years. This is why it is called “El regreso”. This is hard for me because since I left my home country (Venezuela, I have never returned. I miss my family, my friends and my culture. So, when I look at this abstract expressionist painting I feel the excitement, the joy, the clash between the sadness and the happiness of leaving, but finally being back. I can truly feel what it felt for the artist when he came back, and it is something that I hope I’ll experience in real life soon.
