German Expressionism The Beggar The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and The Yellow Chord
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German expressionism was the period between 1910 and 1924, from the end of the Wilhelmine Empire to rise of Hitler's Third Reich. The word expressionism was first used to describe a painting by Max Pechstein in 1910 but by 1912 the word was being used to describe many different art forms from architecture to theatre (Barlow, 17) and was being used regularly in other parts of Europe. At the time of the rise of German expressionism Germany had become known for their advances in technology and military strength. The artist that described themselves as being expressionist had felt alienated by this rise of industrialization, urbanization and militarization and began to use art as a way to overcome this feeling (Shearier, 228). The expressionist wanted to return art to its purest form to focus on the essence of things rather than the aesthetic qualities of art.
The best definition of expressionism was by Barlow "a total revolt against existing order, in terms of style and idea, society and the individual, art and ethics"(18). The expressionist were rebelling against of number of things that society had began to find important. They revolted against representation, impressionism, aestheticism, tradition, nationalism, naturalism and materialism. The ideas they revolted against were part of the bourgeoisie ideals and attitudes so it was a revolt mainly against the bourgeoisie who had seen art as a form of entertainment. The bourgeois were not interested in real life or political, ethical or social issues (Samuel and Thomas, 1)...