Neo-expressionism denotes a late modernist or early-postmodern artistic movement in painting and sculpture that originated in the late 1970s. Practitioners of Neo-expressionism were alternatively referred to as Transavantgarde, Junge Wilde, or Neue Wilden, a term signifying 'The new wild ones' or, more accurately, 'New Fauves'. This style is distinguished by profound subjectivity and a vigorous, unrefined approach to artistic media.
Neo-expressionism emerged as a counter-movement to the conceptual and minimal art trends prevalent in the 1970s. Neo-expressionist artists reverted to depicting discernible subjects, frequently the human form, albeit occasionally in an abstract fashion, employing a raw, intensely emotional style often characterized by vibrant color palettes. The movement drew explicit inspiration from German Expressionist masters, including Emil Nolde, Max Beckmann, George Grosz, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, James Ensor, and Edvard Munch. Furthermore, it shares connections with American lyrical abstraction from the 1960s and 1970s, Chicago's Hairy Who movement, the Bay Area Figurative School of the 1950s and 1960s, the ongoing legacy of abstract expressionism, earlier developments in Pop Painting, and New Image Painting. The latter, a somewhat imprecise term from the late 1970s, described artists utilizing a forceful figurative style with cartoon-like motifs and an aggressive handling of materials, bearing some resemblance to neo-expressionism. The designation "New Image Painting" gained prominence following a 1978 exhibition titled New Image Painting at the Whitney Museum.
Critical Reception
Neo-expressionism held a dominant position in the art market until the mid-1980s. This international style was interpreted by numerous critics, including Achille Bonito Oliva and Donald Kuspit, as a resurgence of traditional self-expressive themes within European art, following a period of American artistic hegemony. The movement's societal and economic significance became a subject of intense discussion. From a Modern Art historical perspective, art critic Robert Hughes characterized neo-expressionist painting as regressive, indicative of a failure of radical imagination, and a regrettable concession to commercial art market pressures.
Prominent critics, including Benjamin Buchloh, Hal Foster, Craig Owens, and Mira Schor, voiced strong objections regarding the movement's connection to the burgeoning art market's commercialization of painting, the cult of celebrity, the opposition to feminism, anti-intellectual tendencies, and a perceived reversion to antiquated mythic themes and individualistic methodologies. Female artists were notably marginalized within the movement; for instance, painters like Elizabeth Murray and Maria Lassnig were excluded from several significant exhibitions, most notably the 1981 New Spirit in Painting exhibition in London, which featured 38 male artists but no female representation.
Global Manifestations of Neo-expressionism
The movement was identified as Transavanguardia in Italy and Neue Wilden in Germany. Concurrently, the Figuration Libre group was established in France in 1981. In Toronto, the ChromaZone/Chromatique Collective was founded in 1981 and remained active until 1986.
Prominent Neo-expressionist Painters
- Georg Baselitz
- Jean-Michel Basquiat
- Sandro Chia
- Enzo Cucchi
- Francesco Clemente
- Eric Fischl
- Philip Guston
- Anselm Kiefer
- Robert Longo
- Rick Prol
- Julian Schnabel
Abstract Expressionism
- Abstract expressionism
- Black Abstractionism
- Expressionism
- Postmodernism
- Postmodern Art
- New European Painting