EXPRESSIVE!

The aspect of "expression" is a fundamental theme in twentieth century art. This book traces the development of Expressionist art from historical Expressionism and the "Brücke" group founded in 1905 to the painting of the "New Savages" in the 1980s and works by Louise Bourgeois and Bruce Nauman from the 1990s.

Expressionism is one of the most important contributions German art has made to Modernism, evoking the names of the artists' association "Die Brücke" in Dresden and "Blauer Reiter" in Munich, alongside the Austrian scene with Schiele and Kokoschka and the works of the Fauves in Paris. This book, however, does not focus solely on these moments of origin, but endeavors to show how the "red scar" of the expressive runs through much art of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The project draws a line starting from Gauguin, van Gogh, and Munch-the most important inspirations for a movement laden with emotions and endowed with the furor of rebellion-to the expressive tendencies in art between the wars and after World War II, all the way to contemporary Neo-Expressionism. Picasso, whose oeuvre features expressionistic aspects throughout and from the very beginning, may be seen as a kind of hinge.
In his essay, the philosopher, art historian, and art critic Donald Kuspit sets out to trace the meaning of the term "expressive". Markus Brüderlin, the head curator of the Fondation Beyeler, explores Expressionism looking backwards from Neo-Expressionism. The publication is rounded out by seventeen shorter texts, each of which starts with the central work of one of the major artists in order to show how that "red scar" of sheer expressive art manifests itself.

The artists:

Francis Bacon, Georg Baselitz, Max Beckmann, Francesco Clemente, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, Egon Schiele and others.

Edited by Fondation Beyeler, texts by Donald Kuspit, Markus Brüderlin.

Exhibition schedule: Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, March 30 - August 10, 2003