German Expressionist Woodcuts (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)

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Landau and Parshall, The Renaissance Print, pp. 179–202; 273–81 & passim; Yale, 1996, ISBN 0-300-06883-2 Rouault does not seek to represent an omniscient and omnipotent God in his Christ. Through this portrait, he conveys Christ as a (the) paragone of empathy and compassion. His naked flesh tones coupled with his sincere expression represent Christ as a man who experienced all the pain (and more) of the human condition. In this sense, Christ may be compared to all the outcasts depicted by Rouault throughout his career. Clowns, entertainers, Pierrot himself, and prostitutes become figures of Christ in effect. But, for the devout artist, Christ is the ultimate redeemer. His look here is penetrative but not punishing, and the calm expression of the face offers a path to love and forgiveness. films, which were influenced by German Expressionist cinema, the effect of horror was usually created by means of a macabre atmosphere and theme; The Student of Prague (1913), an early German film dealing with a dual personality, and The Golem (1915), based on the medieval Jewish legend of a clay… Read More

It is not until 1947 that Rouault was able to finally settle his legal case against the Vollard estate. He had successfully sued Vollard's heirs for the return of some 800 paintings, claiming that they were unfinished and that his reputation as a painter would be damaged by their sale in an unfinished state. The court decided that the painter was the rightful owner of his own paintings - "provided that he had not given them away of his own volition" - and he secured the return of over 700 unfinished paintings. A year later, before a public notary, Rouault burnt 315 unfinished works that he felt he could no longer complete. He would burn more works a few years later. For the artist, it seems, the trial was a moral more than a material triumph. a b c d "Gouge: The Modern Woodcut 1870 to Now – Hammer Museum". The Hammer Museum . Retrieved 18 March 2019.Painting was the dominant medium of the genre, and the resulting works represented epitomize the principles of the German Expressionist movement today. Sculpture, architecture, and film also played important roles. Beyond the visual arts, it transcended many industries and disciplines, including literature, music, theater, and even economics. Works from the movement have sustained popularity to this day, and though the genre’s active years were relatively brief, German Expressionism has remained an influential movement for artists and patrons alike. A Brief History of German Expressionism White-line woodcut [ edit ] Using a handheld gouge to cut a "white-line" woodcut design into Japanese plywood. The design has been sketched in chalk on a painted face of the plywood.

Sertig Valley in Autumn (1920) by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner; Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Nazis removed 381 of his works from museums and churches, destroying some. Was barred from exhibiting and staging his plays. Weakened by Nazi persecutions, died in 1938. Mexico: An Emerging Nation's Struggle Toward Education". Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. 5 (2): 8–10. 1 September 1975. doi: 10.1080/03057927509408824. ISSN 0305-7925. Improvisation 27 (Garden of Love II) (1913) by Wassily Kandinsky; Wassily Kandinsky, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsGerman Expressionism was a pivotal part of the early 20th century, and emerged during a time when the world experienced exponential change. The push for creative freedom and a lens through which to view the world provided artists and patrons alike with the outlets needed for a new wave of self expression. From landscape paintings and woodcuts to Film Noir, German Expressionist art continues to inspire audiences today. Aged eighteen, Rouault enrolled in the School of Fine Arts in Paris. Like Matisse, Marquet and Camoin, he studied under the renowned Symbolist Gustave Moreau. Rouault soon became his Master's favorite pupil and his personal friend. Moreau was a progressive, open-minded tutor who conscientiously cherished and respected the unique personalities of his students and would always strive to give his pupils the space to develop their individual artistic predilections. Among the first Expressionist films, The Student of Prague [4] (1913), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), From Morn to Midnight (1920), The Golem: How He Came into the World [4] (1920), Genuine (1920), Destiny (1921), Nosferatu [4] (1922), Phantom (1922), and Schatten (1923) were highly symbolic and stylized. Hung, Chang-Tai (1997). "Two images of Socialism: Woodcuts in Chinese Communist Politics". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 39 (1): 34–60. JSTOR 179238. It is traditional that the puppets in the Aunt Sally game are based on local or national public figures. Here, Rouault chooses to comment on the anonymous bourgeois class by depicting a dazed and unanimated row of characters. The stylization of the puppets aggravates the caricature as we cannot differentiate the puppets from the human beings. The fun dimension of the game gives way to a grotesque and pathetic portrayal of the bourgeois classes. Moreover, the party here is supposed to be attending the wedding of a minor celebrity, which adds to the satirical depiction of the class who would look down on such festivities.

Werner Herzog's 1979 film Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht was a tribute to F. W. Murnau's 1922 film. The film uses expressionist techniques of highly symbolic acting and symbolic events to tell its story. [9] The 1998 film Dark City used stark contrast, rigid movements, and fantastic elements. [10] [11] Though the cityscape - particularly that of Berlin - offered vibrant colour, promiscuity, and the sordid allure of sex, drink, and dancing, in the midst of Germany’s accelerated industrialisation urban life seemed noxious and alienating. Life in the city was intoxicating, in the most literal sense of the word; nature, by contrast, was pure, physically and spiritually. Through the symbolism of each movement’s name - the ‘Bridge’ and the ‘Blue Rider’ - the Expressionists sought a brighter future: a crossing to a better land; a lone horseman leaving society behind. An Introduction to German Expressionist Films". artnet News. 26 December 2013 . Retrieved 20 January 2017. As war broke out, German Expressionism became a bitter protest movement in addition to a new and modern art style. The movement was led by the younger generation of artists, writers, and thinkers, and was initially confined to Germany due to the country’s isolation throughout World War One. Any creative that sought to dismantle the artistic thought of traditional society belonged, as this movement was borne out of a need to challenge the social conservatism that existed. Ives, C F (1974). The Great Wave: The Influence of Japanese Woodcuts on French Prints. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-87099-098-4.

The sudden death of Moreau in 1897 devastated Rouault. Around the same time, his parents moved to Algeria to support his sister whose husband had passed away. Despite being entrusted and appointed Curator of the Moreau Museum in 1898, Rouault fell into a deep depression. He endured a violent crisis and a long period of solitude and sorrow that he called his "abyss". He stopped painting for a while. "It was then," he commented later, "that I learned the truth of Cezanne's famous words, 'Life is horrifying'". Graham De La Rosa, Michael; Gilbert, Samuel (25 March 2017). "Oaxaca's revolutionary street art". Al Jazeera . Retrieved 23 March 2019. Used printmaking as a means for radically simplifying and flattening compositions. Made more than one thousand prints over career, almost three-quarters between 1903 and 1923; most were self-printed in small editions, although after 1910 collaborated on occasion with Berlin-based publishers, including Paul Cassirer, Fritz Gurlitt, and J. B. Neumann. Reprinted some early woodcuts in 1950s.