German Expressionist Painting

by Peter Selz

Published in 1957, German Expressionist Painting was the first comprehensive study of one of the most pivotal movements in the art of this century. When it was written, however, German Expressionism seemed like an eccentric manifestation far removed from what was then considered the mainstream of modern art. But as historians well know, each generation alters the concept of mainstream to encompass those aspects of the past which seem most relevant to the present. The impact of German Expressionism on the art and thought of later generations could never have been anticipated at the time of the original writing of this book. During the subsequent years an enormous body of scholarly research and an even larger number of popular books on German expressionist art has been printed. Numerous monographs and detailed studies on most of the artists exist now and countless exhibitions with accompanying catalogues have taken place. Much of this new research could have been incorporated in a revised edition and the bibliography certainly could have been greatly expanded to include the important writings which have been published in Germany, the United States and elsewhere since this book was originally issued. The author, however, was faced with the choice of reprinting the original text with only the most necessary alterations-such as updating the captions to indicate present locations of the paintings-or the preparation of a revised text and bibliography. Desirable as a revision appeared, present printing costs would have priced the paperback out of reach for students. It is for this reason that I decided to reissue the original text which stands on its own as a primary investigation of German Expressionist Painting.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

550 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Peter Selz was a German-born American art historian who specialized in German Expressionism.

Reviews

[Giovanni García-Fenech]

The first comprehensive study of German Expressionism written in English (in 1957). Very informative, but tends to become a bit of a name soup, which is particularly annoying when the artists being discussed are not illustrated. Also, the "plates" are inconveniently located in the back of the book. Considering that they're all black and white images printed on the same paper stock as the rest of the book, it would have been easy and much better to intersperse them in the text, saving the reader the distraction of having to continuously flip back and forth. All niggling aside, this is a good resource for students of modern art, and a necessary reminder that not everything of importance in that period was happening in Paris.

[Bob Williams]

Very thorough and well written book. Too bad so many of the plates are in black and white.

[Sps]

I've met Mr. Selz, but I was still surprised at how funny this book is. It's probably just because he loftily puts down artists, movements, or particular paintings, and insults, let's face it, are funny.

For example: he describes a certain group of painters who retreated to gloomy German villages to paint en plein air and then dismisses them as 'ingrown.' Not inbred, ingrown. Perfect.

[Stephen]

This is hardcover, 1957, UC Press