neoexpressionism

neoexpressionism term given to an international art movement, mainly in painting, that began in the 1960s and 1970s, was a dominant mode in the 1980s, and has continued into the 1990s. A reaction against what was seen as the stark and sterile character of minimalism and other purely abstract movements, neoexpressionism stresses aggressive, personal, and often brutally distorted figural imagery, slashing brushstrokes, strong color contrasts, and an emphasis on conveying spontaneous feeling rather than formal concepts. Paintings are often extremely large and sometimes include collage elements, frequently rough or broken. Neoexpressionism has its roots in early 20th-century German expressionism and the abstract expressionism of the 1950s. The contemporary movement also arose in Germany, beginning in the late 1960s and early 70s in the work of such artists as Georg Baselitz , A. R. Penck, and Anselm Kiefer. Other artists who soon began to paint in a neoexpressionist style include the Italians Sandro Chia, Francesco Clemente, and Enzo Cucchi and the Americans Julian Schnabel , David Salle , and Susan Rothenberg.

Neo-Expressionism (also known as Energism; New Fauvism; Vehement Painting, Violent Painting, or Wild Painting; in France as Figuration Libre, in Italy as the Transavant-garde). Movement in painting (and to a lesser extent sculpture) emerging in the late 1970s, characterized by intense subjectivity of feeling and aggressively raw handling of materials. Neo-Expressionist paintings are typically large and rapidly executed, sometimes with materials such as straw (see KIEFER) or brocken crockery (see SCHNABEL) embedded in their surfaces. They are usually figurative, often with violent or doom-laden subjects, but the image is sometimes almost lost in the welter of surface activity. Neo-Expressionism was put firmly on the map by a number of large exhibitions at the beginning of the 1980s, including ‘A New Spirit in Painting’ at the Royal Academy, London, in 1981. To some extent the movement marked a return from the ‘anything goes’ experimentation of the 1970s to more traditional forms. This development was welcomed by art dealers and collectors, but critical reaction has been very mixed. Several exponents, above all Schnabel, have become rich and famous, but to many critics their work seems deliberately bad, ignoring all conventional ideas of skill; indeed the term ‘Bad Painting’ (from the title of an exhibition at the New Museum, New York, in 1978) has been applied to certain works in the vein (Punk Art and Stupid Painting are alternative terms). Distinguishing between good ‘Bad Painting’ (i.e. that which deliberately cultivates crudeness for its emotional value) and bad ‘Bad Painting’ (something that is just a mess) is an unenviable critical task.

Neo-Expressionism has flourished mainly in Germany (where its exponents are sometimes called Neue Wilden—'New Wild Ones'), Italy, and the USA. Leading exponents include: in Germany, Georg Baselitz, Rainer Fetting (1949– ), Jörg Immendorf (1945– ), Anselm Kiefer, Bernd Koberling (1938– ), Markus Lüpertz (1941– ), and A. R. Penck (born Ralf Winkler) (1939– ); in Italy, Sandro Chia, Francesco Clemente (1952– ), Enzo Cucci (1949– ), and Mimmo Paladino (1948– ); in the USA, Robert Kushner (1949– ), David Salle (1952– ), and Julian Schnabel. See also NEW IMAGE PAINTING.

The term ‘Neo-Expressionists’ had earlier been adopted (in 1952) by a group of German abstract painters called Quadriga.