Art movements of the 70’s:
Neo-Expressionism
Expressionism began in the early 20th century and was notably brought back by artist Georg Baselitz, As a result of the historical events occurring at the time it made sense that artists would stray away from minimalism and conceptualism art. Those types of art were aesthetically pleasing and did not tell a story like expressionism could. Neo Expressionism relied on imagery that would evoke a strong emotional response. Neo Expressionist artists depict their subjects in a realistic and even brutal way, it was “raw”. The art was meant to tell a story, in opposition to modernist artists' proclivity to dismiss the storytelling type. The art is usually large scale, notably texturized, with eloquent brushwork, and harsher colors that were not used by earlier art movements. Some artists began to question its genuineness of the movement as most of the art was sold or put into art galleries. This made other artists wonder if it was genuinely influenced by the political movements that were going on at the time or because the pieces could make money. Neo Expressionism influenced the change of modernism to postmodernism
Art pre Neo-Expressionism
Mysterious malady: Norman Rockwell circa. 1959
Art was previously made to depict the “American dream” and the styles were known as conceptual and minimal art. This was a time where people were generally “hopeful” about the state of the country Pre-Vietnam war
Neo-expressionism was created as a response to what artists claimed to be outdated and didn’t reflect the state of the country at the time
Georg Baselitz-
Neo-Expressionist art
Was born into Post World War ll East Germany. He changed his last name from kern to Baselitz as a tribute to the city that he grew up in.
Baselitz’ work was unique in that he painted his subjects upside down
His art is depicted through abstract people-like figures. He was inspired by the events of political chaos and devastation that was unraveling in Germany at the time such as the Munich Massacre which occurred at the 1972 Olympics where the terrorist group black September held eleven Israeli athletes hostage. As well as the 1973 oil crisis that lead to a major economic decline in Germany for a short period of time. And his main inspiration being the after effects of the holocaust and Europes distrust of germans that was still prevalent in the 1970s
He depicts deceased figures in some of his paintings as shown by his highly textured brush strokes, violence was a major theme of his works. The dark colors also represented the dismal way that he was feeling about the state of germany and its people.
Point Perspective
Teresa
