Expressionism: Woody Tai talks on Marc's Large Blue Horses,1911.

German Expressionism

Tai Chun Ting 1154884

German Expressionism

Tai Chun Ting 1154884

Introduction

German Expressionism rose from before WWI and ended in the peak of 1920s. My presentation of Franz Marc , who is a exceptional artist and the representative figure of German Expressionism, and his art work Large Blue horses in 1911 is a fragment of the topic. Franz Marc, as a iconic image of German Expressionism, I am going to cut off from the individual angle in German and expand to the environment. Also, painting approach is used because the painting is the media that leads me to the history so that I want to stick to the path and dig deeper in the content.

Large Blue Horses
My first approach is going to be on the Large Blue Horses, by analyzing the painting, I would like to make a signature feature of this painting in order to have a brief look on German Expressionism. Large Blue Horses is painted by Franz Marc who is a great figure of the German Expressionism. It is painted in oil in canvas and its dimensions is 105.7cm x 181.1cm. This work fits in the expressionism in the way that the blue large horses is the imagination of Franc Marc of his horses idea. The horses show the fantasy of his concept, depicting the horses as mild and beautiful creature, expressing his feeling about the horse which is the essence of expressionism. Also, the horse physicality are shown in a natural, normal shape as ordinary horse, but in a different way.

First, blue horses does not exist in the real world, like dragon or monster. It is a unique creature existed in his mind. Second, its head movement is not similar to ordinary horses because the horses bend its neck in a weird way which is not necessary drink water or eat grass. It is an another major feature of expressionism which emphasizes the movement beauty. Third, the tight connection of three horses is also special since common sense tells us no horse will stick together in such a tight way.

These differences shown one of the feature of German Expressionism --- fantastic image. Since expressionism suggest artist to express their personal feeling, therefore, some artist, in this case, Franz Marc present his own image of horses. The fantastic image is not rooted into world, it may be deeply rooted in artists mind. It can be more beautiful than the real object, or demonized. Unlike realism, the true form of the object is not important, expressionism focus on the genuine feeling, the honest and true form of feeling presented by or through the object. Therefore, the feeling presented by the horse is reformed by artist, in this case, he used the color and movement as the tool.

 The fantastic atmosphere and sharp color tone does not limit in the horses. The red hill under the yellow and blue sky is also a ideal natural background for the horses. It

is consistent with the horses (main object), which brings the perception  of harmonious and joyful to the viewers that he intended to. Franz Marc one said [1]'Everyone who shapes and organizes life searches for the right foundation... rarely been found with tradition - oft proven to be illusory and fleeting. Great painters do not search for their subjects from amongst those who have been lost to the sands of time, but they instead explore the real and deep focus of their own time. Only in this way can the create their own technique and style of painting.' This statement clearly testified his fantastical approach at painting and the innovation talent to lead the expressionism.

In fact, this blue horse is one of the series of his horse painting. Other horses he had painted included Little Yellow Horses, Red horses, Blue horses, Lenggries Horse, The Tower of Blue Horses. It is because 'The animal was already assuming an important place as his subject... he wrote to his publisher Reinhard Piper in December, 1908: I try to intensify my sensitivity for the organic rhythm of all things; I seek pantheist empathy with the vibration and flow of the blood of nature --- in the trees, in the animals, in the air ... I see no happier medium for the "Animalization" of art, as I would like to call it, than the animal picture"[2] The exceptional aesthetic of his painting used like a bridge to communicate with viewers, not in a complex or implicit way, just giving viewer a scope to look in his eyes and seeing his world, understanding his feeling and touch on object. He also painted a lot about animal which embodied the feature of expressionism, for example, fate of animals, tiger, yellow cow. The animal he painted is in a complete form, that means they are able to recognize as animals, but the color he used was special. For example, Tiger, he used straight line to construct the shape of tiger, making its head neat and regular. The whole picture is in a good shape because of the quadrangle. Also, the color he used is in sharp color tone to present the fantastic perception. Like in fighting form, he used nearly 15 color irregularly and used messy brushstroke to construct a fighting scene, but still using sharp color, like red and yellow to keep it fantastic. Therefore, his masterpiece are often express the expressionism

German Expressionism

To link up Franz Marc with the German Expressionism, despite his art work, historical context is a good connection. According to Deborah(2011) 2 ‘There is a sociological aspect to the study’s narrative. ... (it)is situated in the context of pre-war tensions, the shattering experience of war and a compromised revolution’[3].  The book mentioned the sociological aspect with pre-war tension, the shattering experience of war and compromised revolution as a source of German Expressionism which is my focus on the historical background.

Pre-war tension

[4]'Much of Europe was thrilled by the news of war. ... There would be honours , medals, promotion, profits and new borders. No longer would the generation of 1914 have to listen at local beer halls or wine taverns to worn-out tales of the glorious deeds of their grandfathers in the wars of 1866 and 1870-71. Instead, they would create their own legends and myths. ... It is estimated that in Germany more than 1.5 million patriotic ' war poems' were penned in 1914 alone.' Militarism is all over the Germany.  German had experience the pre-war tension throughout the society. National and ethnic emotion is filling all over the country. German people are experiencing a unprecedented tension of war, it is common to find the clue of war. National extremist is propagandizing war, determined to fight against the France, paying effort to revenge the insult. Left-wing newspaper is promoting radical reformation, war is one of the most popular method to gain international respect. German anxiety is nearly to be intrigued. Sensitive artists at the period are also feeling the intense atmosphere, no matter they are pro or against the war. Highly explosive environment is giving the birth of the new era of art. Some artist are seeking for resolving the pressure, like Franz Marc who tend to turn his eye on the nature, seeking inner-peace. Some of them, for example, Emst Ludwig Kirchner perceived himself as a solider is going to another side. However, they are still expressing the personal feeling. The essence of expressionism holds but the tension direct them to different way. The pressure of pre-war pressure does affect them to seek for relieve which made them to express in a deep inner way, regardless (not totally) of viewer and market.

End of German Expressionism

‘Die Brucke ... were the core of Expressionism before about 1917, but the next wave of young men spent their youth in the army and emerged bitterly disillusioned and radicalized into the postwar world of violent social conflicts. At the same time, the personal and artistic freedom enjoyed under the Weimar Republic stimulated widespread experimentation that diffused Expressionism into diverse channels often far from its crucible and even slackened its spirit. ... proclaiming the end of the ecstatic and Romantic idealism of prewar Expressionism. ’[5] If it is said expressionism was born in pre war atmosphere, post war period is the last breath of expressionism. Since honorable German had surrender, tremendous post war penalty was imposed on Germany burdened by German caused catastrophic social conflict. Ridiculous inflation, food shortage crisis is a symbol of chaos of Germany which ends the fantastic and personal art style. The extreme nationalism direct the art to go more political and realistic, only some expressionist can stand still in the era shocking change who is expressing in consistent with nationalism. German expressionism polish his reputation in a quick time but vanish in the same speed, however, the importance in modern art history is still significant.

Conclusion

German Expressionism from rise to end is not more than 10 years, short but influential. This paper approach is from a painting to a iconic German expressionist to a whole art movement. It is concluded that the social environment is the main source of the German Expressionism. Pre war atmosphere inject the movement force  to start the movement , running through WWI and stop at the post war Germany. The movement impact is significant and the art works from the period are highly aesthetic. Thus, credits should go to the German Expressionism artist for their great  contribute in the modern art history and legacy inspiring many great artist and 20th century.

Reference:


[1] Carl, Klaus H. Franz Marc, Marc, Franz; ., 2013, P.3


[2] .Peter Selz,German Expressionist Painting,University of California Press, 1 Jan 1974, P.200-201


[3] Lewer Deborah,GESAMTKUNSTWERK Expressionismus ,( 2011):Vol. 34 Issue 5, p1065-1068


[4] ,Holger H. Herwig,The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary( 1914-1918) , 2014, P.34


[5] Stephanie Barron ,Herschel B Chipp ,German Expressionist Sculpture , Vol. 44, No. 1, The Poster (Spring, 1984), pp. 82-85,