Art review: Influence of German Expressionists endures today

Artists are often a reflection of the time in which they live. If an idea or style is in fashion, artists will tend to follow and work within the parameters society sets up.

What happens when an artist or group of artists goes against this grain? In general, time is the best judge; through its lens we are able to see the effect these artists had.

Some of the most influential artists of the past 130 years were the German Expressionists. Through them, we can see trends in art and design that have ramifications into the present day.

Graphic Discontent: German Expressionism on Paper at the Cleveland Museum of Art is a thought-provoking look at this influential group of artists. Curated from the museum’s collection, it highlights the styles and talents that made their work so strong and meaningful.

Attempting to emphasize “the mystery and spontaneity of emotions,” the German Expressionists made work that flew in the face of traditional art-making practices of the time, which they often saw as bourgeois and lacking depth. Creating works that are gestural or even abstracted, as well as emotionally and visually charged with the depth and meaning of the subjects, this group helped redefine how artists saw their practice for many generations.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner — who founded the group Die Brücke (The Bridge) with Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Erich Heckel in Dresden in 1905, one of the cornerstones of this movement — has many pieces in the exhibit. The lithograph White Dancer in a Small Nightclub is an excellent example of his style.

A female dancer takes the central focus, kicking her leg up, and while she looks female, only the most important information has been drawn to get this point across. There is only so much detail utilized and certain parts, like her hands, feet and face, communicate only so much information while the focus is put on her movement and the light shining on her. It is this direct, emotive study of their subjects that helped to define the group’s style.

Surrounding the dancer are multiple other people, represented in dark, heavy lines with as little detail as possible given to their features, the drinks they are consuming and their clothing. Even with this minimal information, you can still glean their body language and the overall “vibe” of the establishment.

Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), founded by Vassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc in Münich in 1911 is the other foundational group of this movement. Tiger, a woodcut by Marc, was made to illustrate the creation story in the book of Genesis. Expressionists not only wanted to show emotion more directly, but they also sought to highlight more direct access to higher spiritual states. They believed in the potential of an earthly paradise and felt strongly that their work could help lead humanity in that direction.

Marc enlisted in the German army and died in battle at Verdun, France, on March 4, 1916. Tiger was printed posthumously in 1921. In the work, a tiger can be seen staring back over its shoulder toward another animal. The tiger’s personality comes through in its posture, the size of its paws and the heavy dark lines used to illustrate it.

The surrounding natural scene and cowering animal in the background highlight the straightforward style of this group of artists, supplying the details needed to place the animal in the proper context and to show off its personality and its interaction with its surroundings.

Walking through a show like this is an opportunity to reflect on a different time and to draw lines to our own, and to other moments in history. We can ask questions like: What artists in our own present will redefine art? Did punk rock really influence the arts like we thought it did in the 1970s?

Where will our current fascination with information, handheld devices and the internet lead us in the “now” and the future?

Exhibits like Graphic Discontent can help us understand our placement in a world and universe that marches on, no matter what we might do or not do.

Contact Anderson Turner at haturner3@gmail.com.