expressionist
/ɪkˈsprɛʃ(ə)nɪst
/ /ɛkˈsprɛʃ(ə)nɪst /noun
A painter, writer, or composer who is an exponent of expressionism, seeking to express through their work the inner world of emotion rather than external reality: the American abstract expressionist, Jackson Pollock...
- Earlier expressionists turned to tribal art to find the inspiration to distort the body in ways that could convey modern despair and agony.
- "Even my parents still see the profession of my choice as a strange one although they saw my talent as a child," the expressionist told the reporter at his exhibition.
- Expressionists seek to capture the essence of the real.
adjective
Relating to expressionism or its exponents: he placed emphasis on an expressionist style an exhibition of abstract expressionist paintings...
- He believes the rift between modern and traditional architects originated with abstract expressionist painting.
- He developed a heavy, austere Expressionist style, which he displayed in peasant scenes, landscapes, still-lifes, and interiors.
- Even artists who sought a new and hard realism, kept a good deal of Expressionist distortion and exaggeration in their work.
Expressionists characteristically reject traditional ideas of beauty or harmony and use distortion, exaggeration, and other non-naturalistic devices in order to express emotional states. The paintings of El Greco and Grünewald exemplify expressionism in this broad sense, but the term is also used of a late 19th and 20th century European and specifically German movement tracing its origins to Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, and James Ensor, which insisted on the primacy of the artist’s feelings and mood, often incorporating violence and the grotesque.
Derivatives
expressionistic
/ /ɛkˌsprɛʃ(ə)ˈnɪstɪk / adjective ...- The works are an expressionistic mix of raw materials, typography, colour and artificial lighting, involving often quite bizarre detailing.
- He produced a portrait which, though not unsympathetic, adopted an expressionistic intensity of colour more vigorous than anything he had attempted previously.
- Further technical freedom came with his adoption of watercolour as his chosen medium, and a more expressionistic approach to his subjects, whether visionary, landscape, or still life.
expressionistically
- The piece contains stylistic features like energetic brushstrokes and jewel-like colours used expressionistically.
- Figures are treated expressionistically as a vehicle to explore the artist's feeling.
- He produced some of his most innovative imagery, including a series of expressionistically intense watercolors.