Neo-expressionism is a style of late modernist or early-

postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

painting and sculpture that emerged in the late 1970s. Neo-expressionists were sometimes called ''

Transavantgarde Transavantgarde or Transavanguardia is the Italian version of Neo-expressionism, an art movement that swept through Italy and the rest of Western Europe in the late 1970s and 1980s. The term ''transavanguardia'' was coined by the Italian art criti ...

'', '' Junge Wilde'' or ''Neue Wilden'' ('The new wild ones'; 'New Fauves' would better meet the meaning of the term). It is characterized by intense subjectivity and rough handling of materials. Neo-expressionism developed as a reaction against conceptual art and minimal art of the 1970s. Neo-expressionists returned to portraying recognizable objects, such as the human body (although sometimes in an abstract manner), in a rough and violently emotional way, often using vivid colors. It was overtly inspired by German Expressionist painters, such as Emil Nolde, Max Beckmann,

George Grosz George Grosz (; born Georg Ehrenfried Groß; July 26, 1893 – July 6, 1959) was a German artist known especially for his caricatural drawings and paintings of Berlin life in the 1920s. He was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada and New Objec ...

, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, James Ensor and

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

. It is also related to American Lyrical Abstraction painting of the 1960s and 1970s, The Hairy Who movement in Chicago, the Bay Area Figurative School of the 1950s and 1960s, the continuation of

Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

, precedents in Pop Painting, and New Image Painting: a vague late 1970s term applied to painters who employed a strident figurative style with cartoon-like imagery and abrasive handling owing something to Neo-Expressionism. The New Image Painting term was given currency by a 1978 exhibition entitled ''New Image Painting'' held at the Whitney Museum.

Critical reception

Neo-expressionism dominated the art market until the mid-1980s. The style emerged internationally and was viewed by many critics, such as Achille Bonito Oliva and Donald Kuspit, as a revival of traditional themes of self-expression in European art after decades of American dominance. The social and economic value of the movement was hotly debated. From the point of view of the history of

Modern Art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

, art critic Robert Hughes dismissed Neo-Expressionist painting as retrograde, as a failure of radical imagination, and as a lamentable capitulation to the art market. Critics such as Benjamin Buchloh, Hal Foster, Craig Owens, and Mira Schor were highly critical of its relation to the marketability of painting on the rapidly expanding art market, celebrity, the backlash against feminism, anti-intellectualism, and a return to mythic subjects and individualist methods they deemed outmoded. Women were notoriously marginalized in the movement, and painters such as Elizabeth Murray and Maria Lassnig were omitted from many of its key exhibitions, most notoriously the 1981 ''New Spirit in Painting'' exhibition in London which included 38 male painters but no female painters.

Neo-expressionist artists around the world

Australia

* Davida Allen *

Peter Booth Peter Booth (born 2 November 1940) is an Australian figurative and a surrealist painter, and one of the key late-20th-century Australian artists. His work is characterised by an intense emotional power of often dark narratives, and esoteric sy ...

* Kevin Connor * Brett Whiteley

Austria

* Maria Lassnig

Brazil

Rodrigo Franzão Rodrigo Franzão (born April 27, 1982) is a contemporary Brazilian artist known for his innovative textile art and mixed media creations. He lives and works between New York, New Orleans, and Sao Paulo, focusing on sustainability and environme ...

Cuba

Adriano Nicot Adriano Adolfo Fernandez Nicot is a Cuban-American painter and poet based in Miami, Florida. He is known for a distinctive Neo-Expressionist style and is closely associated with the prominent Cuban artists Antonia Eiriz, Manuel Vidal Fernández, ...

* Luis Marín

Denmark

Anette Abrahamsson Anette Ingegerd Olsson (born 21 June 1971), known by the stage name Anette Olzon, is a Swedish singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish from 2007 to 2012. She is also the vocalist of Swedish class ...

Claus Carstensen Claus (sometimes Clas) is both a given name and a German Language, German, Danish language, Danish, and Dutch language, Dutch surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907–1944), a German offi ...

Ursula Reuter Christiansen Ursula Reuter Christiansen (born 13 February 1943 in Trier, Germany) created work, whether it was painting or filmmaking, that showed examples of mythological symbolism. Biography Ursula Reuter Christiansen studied literature at the Philipp Univer ...

(born in Germany, active in Denmark) *

Dorte Dahlin Dorte Dahlin (born 1955) is a Danish artist who entered the art scene in the early 1980s as part of the Junge Wilde, Wild Youth trend. She gained recognition from her participation in the 1982 exhibition ''Kniven på hovedet'' (Knife on the Head) h ...

Inge Ellegaard Inge is a given name in various Germanic language, Germanic language-speaking cultures. In Swedish and Norwegian, it is mostly used as a masculine, but less often also as a feminine name, sometimes as a short form of Ingeborg, while in Danish, Est ...

Erik A. Frandsen Erik August Frandsen (born April 20, 1957) is a Danish contemporary artist. In the early 1980s Erik A. Frandsen was part of the artistic movement '' de unge vilde'' (the young wild ones red.) and in 1981, he co-founded the artist collective ''Værk ...

* Michael Kvium *

Christian Lemmerz Christian Lemmerz (born January 30, 1959) is a German-Danish Sculpture, sculptor and Visual arts, visual artist who attended the Accademia di Belle Arti in Carrara, Italy, from 1978 to 1982 and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1983 to 198 ...

* Kehnet Nielsen *

Lars Nørgård Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel". A homonymous Etruscan name was bo ...

Lars Ravn Lars Søren Ravn (born 1959 in Aalborg) is an Autodidacticism, autodidact Danish artist. Lars Ravn is a member of Danish Art Association Corner painters, Corner. References

Danish contemporary artists 20th-century Danish artists 21st ...

Nina Sten-Knudsen Nina Sten-Knudsen (born 1957) is a Danish painter who played a central role in the Danish Wild Youth trend in the 1980s. She gained recognition from her participation in the 1982 exhibition ''Kniven på hovedet'' (Knife on the Head) held at Trane ...

France

* Rémi Blanchard *

Robert Combas Robert Combas (born 25 May 1957, Lyon) is a French painter and sculptor. He lives and works in Paris. He is widely recognized as a progenitor of the ''figuration libre'' movement that began in Paris around 1980 as a reaction to the art establish ...

Jacques Grinberg Jacques Grinberg (Yaacov Grinberg (10 January 1941 – 5 May 2011) was a Neo-expressionism, Neo-expressionist painter and printmaker. Biography ;1941-1960 Jacques Grinberg was born in 1941, in Bulgaria, and lived in Sofia during the war years. H ...

Hervé Di Rosa Hervé Di Rosa (born 1959 in Sète, Hérault) is a French painter. Born in Sète, France, Hervé Di Rosa is a French painter who brings to life unique characters who populate his work in the form of paintings, sculptures, installations and anim ...

René Marcil René Marcil (May 29, 1917 – September 25, 1993) was a Canadian '' Québécois'' artist, painter and fashion illustrator from Montréal, Québec. He spent most of his professional life in New York, Paris, on the French Riviera and in L ...

Germany

Georg Baselitz Georg Baselitz (born 23 January 1938) is a German painter, sculptor and graphic artist. In the 1960s he became well known for his figurative, expressive paintings. In 1969 he began painting his subjects upside down in an effort to overcome the ...

Anselm Kiefer Anselm Kiefer (born 8 March 1945) is a German painter and sculptor. He studied with Peter Dreher and Horst Antes at the end of the 1960s. His works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead, and shellac. The poems of Paul Celan hav ...

Jörg Immendorff Jörg Immendorff (14 June 1945 – 28 May 2007) was a German painter, sculptor, stage designer and art professor. He was a member of the art movement ''Neue Wilde''. Early life and education Immendorff was born in Bleckede, Lower Saxony, ne ...

Per Kirkeby Per Kirkeby (1 September 1938 – 9 May 2018) was a Danish painter, poet, film maker and sculptor. Biography By the time Kirkeby completed a masters degree in arctic geology at the University of Copenhagen in 1964, he was already part of the ...

(born Denmark, active Germany) *

A.R. Penck Ralf Winkler, alias A. R. Penck, who also used the pseudonyms ''Mike Hammer'', ''T. M.'', ''Mickey Spilane'', ''Theodor Marx'', "''a. Y.''" or just "''Y''" (5 October 1939 – 2 May 2017) was a German painter, printmaker, sculpt ...

* Markus Lüpertz *

Peter Robert Keil Peter Robert Keil (born 6 August 1942 in Züllichau, Brandenburg) is a German painter and sculptor. Life Peter Robert Keil was born to an artist blacksmith father whom he lost very early in his childhood during World War II. During the end p ...

* Rainer Fetting * Salomé * Elvira Bach * Peter Angermann * Luciano Castelli (born in Switzerland, active Germany) * Marwan Kassab-Bachi (born in Syria, active Germany)

India

* Bhupen Khakhar * Ebenezer Sunder Singh

Iraq

Ahmed Al Safi Ahmed Al Safi ( ar, احمد الصافي, born 1971) is an Iraqi sculptor and painter. Life and career Al Safi was born in Al Diwaniyah, Iraq. He studied sculpture at the Fine Arts Academy in Baghdad. He won the Ismail Fatah Al Turk Prize fo ...

Italy

* Francesco Clemente * Sandro Chia *

Enzo Cucchi Enzo Cucchi (born 14 November 1949) is an Italian painter. A native of Morro d'Alba, province of Ancona, he was a key member of the Italian Transavanguardia movement, along with his countrymen Francesco Clemente, Mimmo Paladino, Nicola De Maria, ...

* Mimmo Paladino

Mexico

Julio Galán Julio Galán (1958 or 1959 – August 4, 2006) was a Mexican artist and architect. Galán was one of Latin America's neo-expressionist painters of the end of the last century and the beginning of this one.. His paintings and collages are full ...

Poland

Ludwik Konarzewski-junior Ludwik Konarzewski – junior (April 20, 1918 in Buzuluk – January 23, 1989 in Cieszyn) was a Polish painter, sculptor and teacher of fine arts who worked in Upper Silesia and Cieszyn Silesia. A square in Rydułtowy is named after him. Konarz ...

* Wilhelm Sasnal

South Africa

* Marlene Dumas

Spain

* Miquel Barceló *

Peris Carbonell Antonio Peris Carbonell is a painter and sculptor born in Valencia, Spain, in 1957. Peris Carbonell has made more than 60 solo exhibitions and 30 permanent exhibitions in Europe, including the Peris Carbonell Museum opened to the public in July ...

Jorge Rando Jorge Rando (born 23 June 1941, Málaga) is a Spanish painter and sculptor, considered one of the most recognised artist of the Neo-expressionist art movement. A world class study of key figures of Expressionism and Neo-expressionism, from th ...

Sweden

Daniel Jouseff Daniel Jouseff (born 1975) is a Swedish artist based in Stockholm and London. He is a neo-expressionist artist and a social critic. Life and work Jouseff's parents have their roots in Palestine, and belonged to the Christian minority in the co ...

Switzerland

* Miriam Cahn *

Martin Disler Martin Disler (1 March 1949, Seewen – 27 August 1996, Geneva) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer. He is associated with the ''Neue Wilde'' painting style. Born to a family of gardeners, he was expelled from school in 1968 for disciplina ...

* Leiko Ikemura

Ukraine

* Vasiliy Ryabchenko

United Kingdom

* David Hockney * Frank Auerbach * Peter Howson *

Leon Kossoff Leon Kossoff (10 December 1926 – 4 July 2019) was a British figurative painter known for portraits, life drawings and cityscapes of London, England. Early years and education Kossoff was born in Islington, London, and spent most of his early ...

* Christopher Le Brun

United States

* Ida Applebroog * Donald Baechler * Jennifer Bartlett * Leonard Baskin *

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...

Richard Bosman Richard Bosman (born 1944) is an American artist, educator, and illustrator. Bosman is best known for his paintings and prints. His work is often related to crime, adventure, and disaster narratives; rural Americana; and nature and domestic theme ...

* Christopher Brown *

Louisa Chase Louisa Lizbeth Chase (March 18, 1951 – May 8, 2016) was an American neo-expressionist painter and printmaker. Life Chase was born in 1951 in Panama City, Panama. She grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She earned her BFA in printmaking from ...

Chuck Connelly Chuck Connelly (born January 7, 1955, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American painter. Biography Connelly graduated from the Tyler School of Art in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania in 1977. Afterward, he moved from the Philadelphia area to New Y ...

* Norris Embry * Eric Fischl *

Leon Golub Leon Golub (January 23, 1922 – August 8, 2004) was an American painter. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he also studied, receiving his Bachelor of Arts, BA at the University of Chicago in 1942, and his Bachelor of Fine Arts, BFA and Ma ...

* Philip Guston *

Michael Hafftka Michael Hafftka is an American figurative expressionist painter living in New York City. His work is represented in the permanent collections of a number of museums, including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Museum of Modern Art, Broo ...

* Marcus Jansen * Nabil Kanso * Kevin Larmee *

Danny Minnick Danny Minnick is an American Neo Expressionist painter and professional skateboarder. Early life Minnick was born in Seattle, Washington, United States. He started sketching out his favorite cartoon characters when he was only in 3rd grade. A ...

* Noel Rockmore * David Salle * Julian Schnabel *

Ouattara Watts Ouattara Watts (born May 27, 1957) is an American artist from Ivory Coast known for his multimedia paintings that incorporate African and Western aesthetics and depict themes of spirituality and modernity. His work has been exhibited in reputable ...

Puerto Rico

Arnaldo Roche Rabell Arnaldo Roche Rabell (December 5, 1955 – November 17, 2018) was a Puerto Rican painter, described as "one of the most important artists of the neo-expressionist movement". Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was educated at the Luchetti Schoo ...

References

External links

{{Authority control Contemporary art movements Expressionism Modern art Postmodern art 1970s in art