neoexpressionism

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Neo-Expressionism. 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 or broken crockery 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. To some extent Neo-Expressionism marked a return to more traditional forms after the ‘anything goes’ experimentation of the 1970s. Perhaps partly for this reason it was welcomed by art dealers and collectors, but critical reaction to it has been very mixed. Several exponents, above all the American Julian 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 and Anselm Kiefer; in Italy, Sandro Chia (1946– ) and Francesco Clemente (1952– ); in the USA, David Salle (1952– ) and Julian Schnabel. See also New Image Painting.

Neo-Expressionism 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 or broken crockery 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. To some extent Neo-Expressionism marked a return to more traditional forms after the ‘anything goes’ experimentation of the 1970s. Perhaps partly for this reason it was welcomed by art dealers and collectors, but critical reaction to the movement has been very mixed. Several exponents, above all Julian 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 and Anselm Kiefer; in Italy, Sandro Chia (1946– ) and Francesco Clemente (1952– ); in the USA, David Salle (1952– ) and Julian Schnabel. See also New Image Painting.

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.