Neo-Expressionism was a postmodern art movement that emerged in Germany in the early 1980s in response to modern art philosophies. Painting was revitalized as a means of artistic expression as a result of this movement, which spread throughout Europe and the United States. Neo-expressionism, like other postmodern art movements, did not shy away from human emotion and drew inspiration from various aspects of culture. The thriving art market of the 1980s benefited many neo-expressionist artists.
Neo-expressionist artists despised modern art’s over-simplicity. Modern art movements such as minimalism reduced artistic expression to the bare essentials of composition and design, obliterating all traces of human emotion, individuality, and culture. Neo-expressionist artists, on the other hand, were more concerned with individual expression and culture than with artistic ideas of design.
The neo-expressionist art movement embraced paint as a creative medium at a time when some art critics and artists had declared painting dead. George Baselitz, a German-born artist, is widely regarded as a neo-expressionist pioneer. He painted the human figure frequently, a subject that many modern artists had abandoned. In his work, Baselitz emphasized the unique qualities of paint by applying it roughly and with noticeable brush strokes.
Gerhard Richter and Anselm Kiefer, two other German neo-expressionist painters, both praised painting as a medium, but each had his own distinct style. Richter painted photorealistic landscapes in oils as part of one body of work. The landscapes were beautifully crafted but appeared to be out of focus, which was a humorous commentary on photography’s mechanical nature. Anselm Kiefer, who continues to paint in the neo-expressionist style as of 2011, also uses landscape as a subject, but he incorporates other materials such as sand, hair, straw, and photographs into his canvases.
Much neo-expressionist art is edgy, and some of it is also emotionally dark. Exposure to Communism and Nazism influenced artists such as Kiefer and Richter. Prejudice or the perception of an ironic side to the American dream influenced other artists.
The grist for the neo-expressionist artist’s creative mill came from a variety of places. German history, Nordic and Greek philosophy, western philosophy, classical music, and science are all used by Anselm Kiefer. Jean-Michel Basquiat, an American artist who died in 1988, was inspired by the urban street scrawl of graffiti. Eric Fischl, for example, paints the human figure frequently and uses American upper-class angst as a subject matter in his works.
Neo-expressionism arose at a time when the art market was booming, especially in the United States. Many neo-expressionist artists achieved great success, both financially and in terms of recognition. Individuals and art museums alike were avid collectors of their work.