My Kid Could Paint That

The German expressionist movement flourished for only a few years before the start of World War I, but their ideals of free expression and disestablishmentarianism lived on for decades to come in movements such as Abstract Expressionism. The movement was dominated by two main groups, “The Bridge” and “The Blue Rider.” Kirchner, who famously painted street scenes such as Street, Berlin, was a member—and de facto leader—of the earlier group, “The Bridge,” while “The Blue Rider” was championed by such famous names as Kandinsy and Franz Marc, both of whom became more famous in their independent work after the collapse of the expressionist groups as a result of World War I.

Street, Berlin, above, is a prototypical work of the German Expressionist movement. The movement emphasized intellectual freedom, which is why many of their paintings seem to bear only tangential ties to reality. Colors, textures, and eventually shapes are distorted in many German Expressionist paintings. In fact, many members of the Blue Rider school, such as Kandinsky, eventually transitioned to complete abstraction. German Expressionists also focused on new aspects of urban German life in the early 20^th century. This time was characterized by rapid economic growth and societal assimilation in an era of relative peace before the violence of WWI. City life was, as in many other places, a new challenge for German citizens in rapidly growing metropolises such as Berlin, Dresden, and Munich. People were constantly surrounded by crowds and yet almost always alone. Kirchner illustrates this beautifully with his color scheme. The warmth surrounding the smiling women is juxtaposed starkly against a sea of ice-cold blue. Outside of their own little bubble, the vast impersonality of the city presses in.

The Expressionist movement died with the start of World War I, taking with it the artists’ hope for a peaceful, prosperous new society. But their ideals of peace and mutual acceptance lived on and helped shape the postwar politics of the second half of the twentieth century.

Where one sees the most life, one can also feel the loneliest. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s Street, Berlin illustrates (in an almost romantic way) how one can get lost in the city while being surrounded by people. Busy city folk encompass the man on the right, but he remains distinctly isolated in his space by the line running through his cane and back. Kirchner carved out a specific little space in Street, Berlin for the man to be alone. German Expressionists loved the idea of alienation and solitude (a reason why Kirchner would later move to Berlin, solely to get lost amongst the crowd, like the man in Street, Berlin). This depiction of loneliness in the city became the origins of the film noir.

Visually, German Expressionist paintings of the city could be snapshots from German film noirs or horror movies, besides the subject’s distorted forms. Both depict the darker side of city life and use shadows to illustrate people’s states of mind. One iconic example would be Fritz Lang’s 1931 film M. Peter Lorre’s character’s (a serial murder of children) shadow becomes a looming presence that bears down on the children he stalks. Another example would be F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922). In this, Max Schreck’s shadow engulfs the vampire’s victims just before he delivers his fatal kiss. But film noir became popular in Hollywood, U.S.A. around the 1940s. German Expressionism would have a larger impact at home before entering the U.S.

Kirchner belonged to a group called Die Brücke (German for The Bridge), which formed in Dresden around 1905. Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter (German for The Blue Rider) were the two schools of German Expressionism. Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky led Der Blaue Reiter in Berlin, while Kirchner and Emil Nolde dominated the Dresden art scene. Der Blaue Reiter had more abstraction and less scenes of city life in their art than Kirchner and his ilk’s. Marc’s works would more influential in works like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (a much more abstract film than M). But both groups would be labeled degenerate art by Germany’s new regime, the Third Reich.

The Nazi’s despised German Expressionism and devoted themselves to eradicating it from the German culture. They confiscated Expressionist works from museums and had all the Die Brückes and Der Blaue Reiters fired from teaching positions at the art academies. The oppression from the Nazi’s Reich would lead to Kirchner’s suicide in 1938. But before Kirchner killed himself, he burnt all of his paintings in his studio for fear that the Nazis would have that pleasure. With Hitler in control, many artists fled Germany such as Paul Klee (a member of Der Blaue Reiter) and Fritz Lang (a German Expressionist film maker). Fritz would go to Paris, and when that became occupied, the United States. Here, German Expressionism was viewed in Fritz’s films and helped influence American cinema. Even to this day, film critics claim Fritz Lang to be the godfather of modern cinema. And German Expressionism itself would again rise to power in the German media after the Nazi’s degenerate art show, which displayed numerous Expressionist works. The Nazis had intended for people to scoff at these paintings, but instead they fell in love with them, creating a cult following of the German Expressionists. After WWII, the German Expressionists would claim their place in art history.