A protest against the growing naturalism in the arts that occurred in nineteenth century Germany, at its very root it is against naturalism. The original idea of Expressionism was to present the subjective perspective to the audience, which means the work is distorted to evoke moods or ideas from the audience. Expressionism plays had different context or story lines over time, but the idea was very similar, it was about the conflict between sexes, generations and classes. It was to show freedom against authority, after all the slaughter and killing after World War one, expressionism theatre became a way for people to express themselves. “Men screams from the depths of his soul” .
German Expressionism has influenced thousands of films and filmmakers since the art movement began in the 1920’s. It is known for its dismissal of the standard conventions of Western filmmaking for a more off-kilter style of storytelling. Some film historians consider Metropolis (1927) to be one of the most groundbreaking German Expressionist films ever made. However, there are many instances throughout Metropolis in which it deviates from the eccentric Expressionist style. There are many obvious occurrences of expressionism during Metropolis, for example the opening machine sequence, but conventional Western techniques are also common in the film.
Feudalism returned and continued, leading to the continuation of serfdom of many people and their obligation to provide a share of their harvest and labor to their landlords. Moreover, guild controlled much of the industries and because with their licensure policies, the establishing of factories became difficult and limited. In trade perspective, local German textile industry faced competition when the allies lifted the Continental System that blocked the entry of cheap British textile. A depression also followed in 1817 when agricultural production dropped significantly. But the most significant challenge towards Germany’s industrial revolution was its political set up.
There was a lot of freedom which is something Germany never really experienced before. Along with the freedom of speech there came many new books, paintings and news papers that had the freedom to criticize. Some believe this was the greatest period in German history for writers and artists to create many new things. Germany also became the centre for plays and operas, the most famous playwright of the time was Bertolt Brecht with his successful “Threepenny Opera”. Germany also had a great advancement in the film industry, with great films such as “Metropolis” which was directed by the best known director Fritz Lang.
The term impressionism came from Monet’s painting Impression, Sunrise. There was a Paris exhibition in 1874 of like-minded painters who were shunned by the official Paris Salon show and frustrated by its politics and narrow vision. This group included such artistic legends such as Renoir, Degas, Cézanne and Pissarro. An art critic who was reviewing the show helped to created the term by titling his article “Exhibition of Impressionists” based on Monet’s work. However the art critic did not mean it as a compliment but it gained popularity and in future use, took on a far more respectful connotation.
As the industrial world was drifting into insanity, violence and despair, harrowing stoies came about because of it. In several ways, film was becoming something like a mirror, even in its distortions. As Carl Richardson points out. “realism is only possible when the power of the image is unleashed with naked honesty. Distortion, doctoring, and the exaggeration of the subject material make realism possible.” (13, Richardson) While the influence of German Expressionism is apparent, filmmakers borrowed heavily from French Poetic realism , as an art movement, emerged from the socio-poltical atmosphere of post-WWI France and gained precedence in the early 1930’s.
Eventually became the world's most famed painting movement. See: Characteristics of Impressionist Painting (1870-1910). the most contribution of artistic movement to "modern art" was to legitimatise the utilization of non-naturalist colors, so paving the approach for the all non-naturalist abstractionism of the twentieth century. Short-lived, dramatic and extremely prestigious, light-emitting diode by Henri Emile Benoit Matisse (1869-1954), art movement was 'the' modern vogue throughout the mid-1900s in Paris. The new vogue was launched at the Salon d'Automne, and have become instantly famed for its vivid, garish, non-naturalist colors that created artistic movement seem virtually monochrome!
Unlike other European countries, Germany didn’t have the traditions or the experience to smoothly integrate a democracy into its national fabric. Additionally, largely due to the fact that the democracy was put into effect by Germany’s adversaries from the war, the democracy was seen as a punishment for losing. Germans helplessly watched as their beloved Kaiser was forced to abdicate the throne, and as new and unfamiliar leaders, many of whom were members of the Socialist party,
Culture in the Third Reich National Socialism typified much more than a political movement that has been portrayed since the end of WWII. The Nazi leaders that came to power in January 1933 seeked the political authority to alter or improve the Versailles Treaty, and also wanted to reclaim and expand upon the land they had lost after the loss in World War I. They also found it necessary to manipulate the cultural landscape. They sought to return the country to its more traditional “Germanic” and “Nordic” values, to toll the Jewish, foreign, and degenerate influences that destroyed the German culture. In doing so they sought to shape a racial community which would coordinate with the Nazi ideals.
The effects of this exposure can certainly be seen in the subject matter of 19th century Romanticism; fascination with all things “foreign” was a prevalent theme during this time, and artists spared no effort in romanticizing their exotic subject matter. For the European, these “primitive” cultures soon became a symbol of the authentic, simple paradise they had lost to civilization and its repressive conventions. The writings of philosophers