German Expressionism : Art and Society, 1909-23

by Stephanie Barron (Editor)

In the early years of the 20th century, a group of young artists including Ernst Kirchner, Vassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, liberated themselves from traditional representation by using distortion and vibrant, unrealistic colour in their painting. Eroticism became a tool for exposing the lies and decadence of society, whilst motifs borrowed from African, Oceanic and Buddhist art further questioned bourgeois culture. Later, the cruelty of World War I was reflected violently in the work of Max Beckmann, Otto Dix and George Grosz. In light of an exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi, Venice, this text re-evaluates the range of approaches taken by these radical artists, presenting more than 400 of their works and accompanying essays by art historians. Organized by theme, they describe the historical background of Expressionism and the two main groups Die Brucke and Der Blaue Reiter, looking at the links with Romanticism and Futurism, iconography, supporters, critics, collectors and theory. The main part of the book comprises the works themselves, each accompanied by text documenting their meaning and history. Artist's biographies are also provided.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Stephanie Barron is chief curator of modern and contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. During her thirty-two years at LACMA, she has been responsible for several international loan exhibitions, including “The Avant-Garde in Russia: 1910-1930,” “German Expressionist Sculpture,” “David Hockney: A Retrospective,” “German Expressionism 1915-1925: The Second Generation,” “Exiles and Émigrés: The Flight of European Artists from Hitler,” and "Art of Two Germanys/Cold War Cultures". She co-organized LACMA’s millennium project, “Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity, 1900-2000.” Barron has received the Order of Merit First Class and the Commander’s Cross from the German government, the John J. McCloy Fellowship, and an NEA Fellowship for museum professionals. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.