Monday, September 8, 2014

Expressionism in Art: The Scream

Continuing our music and art discussion this week, let’s explore the movement known as Expressionism and look at how it maps itself onto the visual arts as well as musical composition.

Edvard Munch’s The Scream (1895) is a prime example of Expressionist artwork. This famous piece depicts a sexless creature in the midst of a horrific scream, most likely reflecting Munch’s own anxiety toward the modern age.

Edvard Munch, The Scream (1895)
Courtesy of wikimedia.org 
Expressionist artists work to convey subjective emotions rather than objective scenes in their art. These emotions are an expression that results from a specific object or circumstance and are typically characterized by negative qualities including isolation, tension, stress, and fear. In painting, artists attempt to convey their Expressionist tendencies by distorting or exaggerating figures and using pure colors. 


Do you enjoy Expressionist artwork? Do you have a favorite artist or painting from this period?