Neo-Expressionism
1970s – 1980s

Characterized by intense subjectivity and rough handling of materials, Neo-Expressionism is a style of painting and sculpture that began in the late 1970s. The artists were referred to as Junge Wilde, Neue Wilden, and Transavantgarde, however ‘New Fauves’ would possibly be a more relevant term.

Developed as a reaction against Conceptual and Minimal Art of the 1970s, Neo-expressionism artists returned to depicting recognizable objects, including the human form, in a rough and emotional way, using vivid colours. Although inspired by German Expressionists, such as Max Beckmann, James Ensor, Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, and George Grosz, it was also related to American Lyrical Abstraction painting of the 1960s and 1970s, including The Hairy Who movement.

Many artists practiced and revived aspects of Expressionism from when it was at its peak in the early 20th century, the most famous being started by Georg Baselitz which led to a revival that dominated German art in the 1970s. By the 1980s this resurgence had become part of an international return to the sensuousness of painting. Artists such as Julian Schnabel and Francesco Clemente turned to expressive creations in their work reaffirming the redemptive power of art in general and specifically painting with their themes drawn from mythological, cultural, nationalist, historical, and erotic.

With their subjects in an almost raw and brutish manner Neo- Expressionists resurrected the frequently large-scale works with highly textural and expressive brushwork and intensity of colour that had been rejected by immediately preceding movements in art

The work of the Neo-Expressionists was closely linked to buying, selling, and the commercial system of art including the galleries, critics, and media hype. Some in the art field began to question the authenticity of its art as art that was purely motivated. The popularity of Neo-Expressionism was also the reason for its demise.

Neo-Expressionism accepted and rejuvenated historical and mythological imagery as opposed to the Modernist rejection of storytelling. Neo-Expression played an influential role in the transition from modernism to postmodernism

Georg Baselitz opened an exhibition in West Germany in 1963, and amid controversy, Neo-Expressionism arrived in Germany. The State Attorney confiscated the contents of the show on the grounds of indecency; one painting was a depiction of a figure mid-masturbation and another a male figure with an erection. Baselitz’s later exhibitions didn’t attract such extreme reactions, however, his use of expressionistic figuration drew attention from an art world that was moving away from such imagery with the popularity of Pop Art, Fluxus, and Minimalism.

By the end of the 1970s, Baselitz was heading a loose-knit group of German artists, the Neue Wilden (New Fauves), including artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Eugen Schonebeck, Markus Lupertz, and A.H. Penck. The group took their inspiration from the early Expressionist works of George Grosz, Edvard Munch, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner as well as the action paintings of Willem de Kooning and the late quasi-abstraction of Pablo Picasso

During this time there was a revival of painting in the USA. Many considered it liberating to create art in a traditional manner combining abstract and figurative forms whilst drawing on a wide range of earlier styles and techniques. As Neo-Expressionism globally expanded a wide range of artists were associated with the shift in style. Older artists such as Francis Bacon were hailed as predecessors whilst others associated with American trends of the 1970s were also linked with the movement.

With Abstract Expressionism painting had become less focused on the subject and more about form. Pop Art re-introduced an interest in subject matter of a particular kind but Neo-Expressionism commenced the return to romantic subjects such as mythology, history, primitivism, and natural imagery. The origins of the term Neo-Expressionism are unclear but it was widely used from 1982 to describe the new German and Italian art and the end of the American domination of the postwar art scene.

In 1956, Baselitz moved from East Germany to West Berlin. Despite being a rebellious student in East Germany, he took his subject matter from his East German roots. Expressionism became the official style of East German artists after WW2 due to the hostility of the Nazis to the original German Expressionists. Baselitz and A.R. Penck were both pioneers and rogues within the movement. Both explored the “how” of painting instead of the “why.” Penck created a graphic language that looked back to Picasso yet forward to Graffiti and Street Art. Baselitz began painting upside-down figures as a way of pointing out how a work was painted rather than what it meant. Other Neo-Expressionists employed their work to examine Germany and its problematic recent history.

Often referred to as the Trans Avantgarde, Italian Neo-Expressionism was seen as an escape from the sparseness of the Arte Pavera movement in Italy with a strong element of parody as in the mock-heroic work of Sandro Chia. The works of Enzo Cucchi were closest to the German Neo-Expressionist style and Mimmo Paladino’s work was more Italian and individual alluding to ancient Italian sources.

By the 1980s American artists entered the Neo-Expressionist arena including Erik Fischel who placed emphasis on human psychology and Julian Schnabel who utilized historical imagery to create personal works. The 1980s was a period of great affluence and unabashed consumerism and the New York art market grew exponentially with selling prices reaching absurd heights. Instead of isolating themselves from the art world, as was the case of many Abstract Expressionists, the neo-expressionists embraced the glittery art scene