ex·pres·sion·ism or Ex·pres·sion·ism 
(ĭk-sprĕshə-nĭz′əm)
(ĭk-sprĕshə-nĭz′əm)n.
A movement in the arts during the early 1900s that emphasized distortion of external reality in order to express the artist's subjective experience.
ex·pression·ist n.
ex·pres′sion·istic adj.
ex·pres′sion·isti·cal·ly adv.