Rowboat 1958 Neo-Expressionism Oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
In stark contrast to the urban scenes of New York painters, Park created ‘the good life’ of California with images of family, hillsides, beaches, and sunlight. He focused on the common man and woman and how they interacted with the world around them. Pak celebrated the magic and vitality of the natural world. In ‘Rowboat’ he resents two men suspending their everyday lives for a few hours in a joyful watery realm
David Park 1911-1960
David Park Bay Area Figurative Movement, Abstract Expressionism Born: 17 March 1911, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Nationality: American Died: 20 September 1960, Berkley, California, USA
Park was a painter and considered a pioneer of the Bay Area Figurative Movement in painting during the 1950s. In May 2007, his painting ‘Standing Male Nude in the Shower’ sold for over a million dollars at Sotheby’s, New York
The Backpacker 2012 Neo-Expressionism Pigment on Linen
‘The Backpacker’ presents eighteen identical male figures in reds, blues, and greys attired in business suits with a backpack. They are walking along a beige platform and then down the side of it. A rusty, grimy wall is behind them. The forward motion of the montage allows the figures to demonstrate a sense of purpose within their bleak surroundings.
Francesco Clemente 1952-
Francesco Clemente Neo-Expressionism Born: 23 March 1952, Naples, Italy Nationality: Italian
Clemente is a contemporary artist. He has lived in Italy, India, and New York City. He was among the principal figures of the Italian Transacanguardia movement of the 1980s which rejected formalist and conceptual art in favour of a return to Symbolism and figurative art
Frankenstorm 2012 Neo-Expressionism Oil and oilstack on canvas Skarstedt Gallery, New York, USA
Condo created ‘Frankenstorm’ during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 when he was left without electricity and was cut off from the outside world. A single figure, in a predominantly black background, is shown from the chest up. Its delineated neck and upper body are created with red and blue lines. The head comprised of several three-dimensional geometric shapes seems barely human.
George Condo 1957-
George Condo Neo-Expressionism Born: 10 December 1957, New Hampshire, USA Nationality: American
Condo is a visual artist who works in the mediums of painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. He currently lives and works in New York City
Figures in Motion 2013 Neo-Expressionism Acrylic, charcoal, and pastel on linen Private Collection
In ‘Figures in Motion’ Condo combines a variety of influences and styles to create a frenetic scene in which fractured figures are superimposed on one another. Vibrant and uplifting colours with a vivacious sense of movement seem joyful and celebratory especially when considering the painting was created shortly after Condo’s experience with Legionnaire’s disease.
George Condo 1957-
George Condo Neo-Expressionism Born: 10 December 1957, New Hampshire, USA Nationality: American
Condo is a visual artist who works in the mediums of painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. He currently lives and works in New York City
Dancing to Miles 1985-86 Neo-Expressionism Oil on canvas The Broad Art Foundation, Santa Monica
In ‘Dancing to Miles’ Condo presents a myriad of figures in a Cubist style. The colours of brown and black marry with a feel of the improvisation of the Beat movement and Jazz.
George Condo 1957-
George Condo Neo-Expressionism Born: 10 December 1957, New Hampshire, USA Nationality: American
Condo is a visual artist who works in the mediums of painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. He currently lives and works in New York City
Water and Wine 1981 Neo-Expressionism Gouache on paper Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
‘Water and Wine’ depicts two nudes interacting with the standing corpse of a horned she-beast. Against a blue-brick backdrop one figure appears distressed holding the beast’s severed head and the other appears more comfortable reclined underneath suckling the teats. This unsettling juxtaposition of violence and relaxation, beauty and the grotesque is not unusual amongst artists but what is more distinctive is the suggestion that survival depends on taking nourishment from the bodies we kill.
Francesco Clemente 1952-
Francesco Clemente Neo-Expressionism Born: 23 March 1952, Naples, Italy Nationality: Italian
Clemente is a contemporary artist. He has lived in Italy, India, and New York City. He was among the principal figures of the Italian Transacanguardia movement of the 1980s which rejected formalist and conceptual art in favour of a return to Symbolism and figurative art
Anish Kapoor Post-Minimalism, Neo-Expressionism, Installation Art, The Sublime in Art Born: 12 March 1954, Mumbai, India Nationality: British – Indian
Kapoor is a sculptor best known for installation and conceptual art. Born in Mumbai. He attended the elite boys’ boarding school, The Doon School om Dehradun. Kapoor has lived and worked in London, UK, since the early 1970s he studied art at Hornsey College of Art and then the Chelsea School of Art and Design
1000 Names, 1979-80. Wood, gesso, and pure pigment Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
Representing Britain at the XLIV Venice Biennale in 1990, Kapoor was awarded the Premio Duemila Prize. Other accolades include the Turner Prize (1991) and the Unilever Commission for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern (2002). In 2013 Kapoor received a knighthood for services to the visual arts, and an honorary doctorate from Oxford University the following year. In 2012 the Indian government awarded Kapoor the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India.
Kapoor transformed the cool, conceptual, and minimalist approach to sculpture, adding lyricism, metaphor, and primordial heat. Objects stand serenely in a meditative focus as they simultaneously spill out of their parameters, the sculptures appear abstract yet promote self-reflection. Kapoor’s intention is to create an environment within which the viewer can consider their own perception and meaning rather than present a prescriptive idea. Simultaneously earthy and celestial Kapoor’s work evokes the untouchable with closeness in a paradoxical entwining esoteric philosophy with everyday sensuality.
Kapoor, like many sculptors of his generation, asks his audience to meditate on how they exist in and move through space. His public works are graceful, yet imposing bringing into question the human presence and its impact on the natural world and seeking a respectful relationship between the two
When I am Pregnant, 1992. Fiberglass and paint Du Pont Museum of Contemporary Art, Tilburg, Netherlands
Kapoor repeatedly returns to the ideas of origin, especially the beginning of life. He makes holes, often vulva-like, and curves to illustrate pregnancy, highlighting the journey towards life through the mother’s womb. Red becomes the colour symbolising blood, the body, and the beginning of life’s journey.
Kapoor’s interest in infinity, endlessness, and void is as much about carving a space to consider meaning as it is a state of no-thing-ness and a clearing of the mind. Black, like an abyss in the universe, represents an opening for new and unpredictable experiences presenting a limitless opportunity for contemplation and self-development.
Kapoor’s is an international body of work including monumental sculptures as icons all over the world. He gives the world a method of communication without words; like ancient cave paintings and the Egyptians, he recognizes that speaking with art can be understood by everyone. Kapoor constructs sculptures that translate over time and culture.
From above Kapoor’s pigment sculptures become painterly and transform to recall Constructivist and Suprematist canvases by Kazimir Malevich and abstract paintings by Paul Klee. Kapoor’s intent, as with many artists, is to unite metaphysical dualities such as light and dark, male, and female, and in this case, painting and sculpture
Kapoor was born in Mumbai, India. His mother was the daughter of an Iraqi Jewish Rabbi who emigrated to India from Baghdad with his family. Kapoor’s Hindu father was a hydrographer for the Indian Navy. Both his parents were cosmopolitan and modern and sent Kapoor and his brother to the Doon School, an all-boys boarding school in Dehra Dun. The boys learned as much about European history as they did about India. An exclusive education and the diverse forward thinking of his parents led to Kapoor spending much of his childhood feeling like an outsider uncertain of his identity within Indian society resulting in 15 years of psychoanalytical therapy to acquire the tools needed to cope with his imbalance.
Sky Mirror, 2001. Concave mirror made of polished stainless steel Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham, England
As a child, Kapoor enjoyed finishing his mother’s paintings but he had no ambitions of becoming an artist. At 17 he and his brother travelled to Israel on free plane tickets to live and work on a kibbutz in Gam Shmuel. Kapoor embraced communal living and the utopian ideals of making a difference in the world. His time on the kibbutz was one of great liberation and he intended to stay in Israel to study engineering. After three years and the realization he was not strong at mathematics Kapoor began to think about art as a career. Determined to make a career for himself, he hitch-hiked across Europe, settling in London to study at Hornsey College of Art in 1973.
After attending the Chelsea School of Art for a year, Kapoor returned to India unsure of where his art career would lead. His time in India inspired a period of creativity resulting in his first major works – his ritualistic pigment sculptures. People initially thought Kapoor was female because of the material he used, however, he quickly garnered recognition within the global art community.
Nicholas Logsdall, owner of the Lisson Gallery, London, UK, took notice of Kapoor’s work. In the 1980s Logsdall was gathering together diverse British sculptors who later became known as the New British Sculptors and wanted Kapoor to join the group. His reputation secure, Kapoor represented Britain at the 1990 Venice Biennale and won the Turner Prize in 1991. Kapoor found an affinity with Logsdall’s vision of the New British Sculptors, which included Julian Cope, Antony Gormley, Tony Cragg, Rachel Whiteread, and Richard Deacon. The group provided a network of equals with whom Kapoor could share ideas and exhibit his work.
Cloud Gate, 2006. Stainless steel Millennium Park, Chicago, USA
Kapoor found personal fulfillment at the same time as he found artistic success. He married Susanne Spicale, the German art historian, and finally resolved his psychological issues. From the mid-1990s Kapoor expanded his use of materials to include polished stainless steel, red wax, and water.
Due to his large-scale sculptures and many public commissions Kapoor has become extremely wealthy. He is well-known and outspoken on the art scene. When Ai Weiwei was imprisoned by the Chinese government Kapoor used social media to protest the unjust treatment of his friend. Kapoor embraced the resulting attention starring and dancing in a ‘Gangnam for Freedom’ music video along with other art professionals.
Kapoor obtained exclusive rights to Vantablack in 2014, becoming the only person in the world who could use the extremely dark shade of black. The concept of exclusive rights to colour seemed ridiculous and caused outrage among artists. In retaliation British artist, Stuart Semple created the ‘world’s pinkest pink’ forbidding Kapoor from using it. He allows other artists to use it but they must first agree to a legal declaration stating they are Kapoor. Kapoor responded with a picture on social media of his middle finger dipped in pink pigment captioned ‘Up Yours #pink.’ Despite these public escapades Kapoor continues working at a prolific rate from his studio in London.
Descension, 2014. Funnelled water and black dye Installed in Brooklyn, New York, USA
Noble Woman 2009 Neo-Expressionism Acrylic, charcoal, and pastel on canvas
‘Noble Woman’ is one of several drawing paintings by Condo in which he employs a variety of materials in a single artwork. A red image with black lines and white shading depicts a female and male figure in a cartoonish Cubist style. The male’s head rests atop the female torso. The bowtie identifies the male as Rodrigo, one of Condo’s lowlife figures who is a scoundrel.
George Condo 1957-
George Condo Neo-Expressionism Born: 10 December 1957, New Hampshire, USA Nationality: American
Condo is a visual artist who works in the mediums of painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. He currently lives and works in New York City
Map of What is Effortless 1978 Neo-Expressionism Gouache on paper Private Collection
Surrounded by a thick blue border ‘Map of What is Effortless’ is a watercolour of a human hand with the palm facing the viewer. Standing on each digit and scaled to the finger’s width is a different wild animal indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa. Like many of Clemente’s works the painting invites a myriad of interpretations from our evolutionary ancestry to the human ambition to rise above the animals in status.
Francesco Clemente 1952-
Francesco Clemente Neo-Expressionism Born: 23 March 1952, Naples, Italy Nationality: Italian
Clemente is a contemporary artist. He has lived in Italy, India, and New York City. He was among the principal figures of the Italian Transacanguardia movement of the 1980s which rejected formalist and conceptual art in favour of a return to Symbolism and figurative art
Name 1983 Neo-Expressionism Oil on canvas Private Collection
‘Name’ is painted in oils with bold, violent, colourful strokes depicting a man who resembles Clemente. He stares with his mouth agape at the viewer, it is an unsettling image with his face as a hollow mask. The smaller and paler versions of himself sit in his ears listening, in his eyes watching, inside his nose smelling, inside his mouth as it tries to speak. Confined within the smaller figures define the man, his real identity and his face is merely a façade.
Francesco Clemente 1952-
Francesco Clemente Neo-Expressionism Born: 23 March 1952, Naples, Italy Nationality: Italian
Clemente is a contemporary artist. He has lived in Italy, India, and New York City. He was among the principal figures of the Italian Transacanguardia movement of the 1980s which rejected formalist and conceptual art in favour of a return to Symbolism and figurative art
Adieu by Georg Baselitz, 1982. Oil on canvas Collection of the Tate, United Kingdom
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.
Café Deutschland II by Jörg Immendorff, 1977-78. Oil on canvas Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
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
Scissors and Butterflies by Francesco Clemente. Oil on linen The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York, USA
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
King of the Wood by Julian Schnabel, 1984. Oil, plates, Bondo on wood, with spruce roots Collection of the Artist
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
Athanor by Anselm Kiefer, 1983-84. Oil, acrylic, emulsion, shellac, and straw on photo mounted on canvas Toledo Museum of Art
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.
Bad Boy by Eric Fischl, 1981. Oil on canvas Private Collection
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
From the Back of the Wardrobe 