A Comparison Between the Realist and Expressionist Movements of the 19th and 20th Centuries in Germany
Two major movements in fine art, the Realist movement of thenineteenth century, and the Expressionist movement of the twentiethcentury, signified revolutionary reforms in the political, social, andeconomical spectrum's of life in Germany. In both developments, artistssought to establish themselves as original thinkers by drawing inspirationfrom the extraordinary events that endlessly surrounded them. During thenineteenth century, the legendary Otto von Bismark rose to power to createthe framework for contemporary Germany. In 1865, his army seized most ofDenmark's southern territory. Austria, and various southern German statescontinued to surrender to Bismark's reign from 1866 to 1871. In a span ofjust a few years, Bismark completely transformed the political landscape ofthe Germanic states by reducing the Hapsburg family to mere figureheads,establishing Kaiser Wilhelm I as emperor, and entrusting the 'Junkers,' agroup of landowning, aristocratic Prussians, with substantial power. Lateron in the 20th century, Germany continued to experience belligerentconfrontation on an international scale. Kaiser Wilhelm II sealedGermany's fate as a participant in World War I when he issued the notorio
By order of King Federick William IV, Menzel illustrated the works ofIllustrationen zu den Werken Friedricks des Grossen, Frederick the Great. In 1833, he published an albumof pen-and-ink drawings that were reproduced on stone to illustrateGoethe's poem, Kunstlers Erdenwalleni, which was his first series. [1] The German artist Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel best exemplifiedthe artist that embodied Courbet's ideals. Each expanded the expressive possibilities of color and lineto explore dramatic and gripping themes to convey feelings of horror, fear,and the macabre chaos that permeated throughout Europe in the first half ofthe twentieth century. However, an artist should never produce an itembecause he felt obligated to pay homage to his craft. Kirchner's Friedrichstrasse (1914) is a good example of these darkillusions. Instead of the soft, cool colors and serene subjects that infusedthe Impressionist era, ugliness, unrefined banality, and contradictionsgraced the canvas of the Expressionists. His quintessential work, The Painter's Studio,inadvertently instigated a new movement in European painting in the middleof the nineteenth century. Following theinitiative set forth by Gustave Courbet, the Realist and Expressionistartists in Germany created a dynamic and innovative approach to art byrejecting the staunch standards of the Academy in Paris, and dismayed manyorthodox painters with their comparatively rough brushing techniques. The gradual culmination ofthese monumental events instigated a somber movement in the fine arts. According to the innovators of these upheavals, the neoclassical methodsset forth by the Academy in Paris inadequately conveyed the grim realitiesof the sociopolitical turmoil that pervaded German life. However, due to the turmoil and the radical changes that took place in sucha relatively short period of time, this approach probably best captured thesense of uncertainty and disillusionment that must have preoccupied theminds of the people of Germany. Instead, they delighted in hallucinatory intensity tocreate more subjective outlooks and states of mind. When pressed toexplain his unique approach, he simply yet firmly stated: I have not tried to imitate the former or to copy the latter, nor have I addressed myself to the pointless objective of 'art for art's sake. It signifies the sense of doom that wasubitquitous during the tumultuous time of the early twentieth century.
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