Books and Art

Painter and his Model (1981). Balthus (Polish-French, Expressionism, 1908-2001). Tempera on canvas. Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris.

Balthus supervised the restoration of the Villa Medici, rediscovering ancient frescoes, and replanted the gardens in their old splendour. His few paintings from this period and some from later years, as in the Painter and his Model, are set in and around the villa. They betray a final influence, that of Japanese art.

Hermine Reading (1917). Jules Pascin (born Bulgaria, French, Expressionist, 1885-1930).

Julius Mordecai Pincas, known Jules Pascin, or the “Prince of Montparnasse” was strongly identified with the Modernist Movement and the artistic circles of Montparnasse.

In 1907 Pascin met Hermine Lionette Cartan David, also a painter, and they became lovers. They later married.

Dance Around the Golden Calf (1910). Emil Nolde (German, Expressionism, 1867-1956). Oil on canvas. Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich.

When Moses went to receive the Ten Commandments, he left the Israelites for 40 days and 40 nights. The Israelites feared that he would not return and demanded that Aaron make them “gods.” Aaron gathered up the Israelites’ golden earrings and constructed a “molten calf.”

Self-Portrait (1946). Elaine Marie Fried de Kooning (American, Expressionism, 1918-1989). Oil on Masonite. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. 

In the mid 1940s, the de Koonings were poorer than ever, and both were experiencing great difficulty in selling any work. In an effort to make money, de Kooning painted this realist self-portrait and sold it to her sister for a sum of $20, which she described at the time as “good money.” The pseudo-abstract touches in this otherwise classical portrait are very much in the style of artist Fairfield Porter, who was a close friend of the de Koonings.

Russisches Ballett (I), 1912. August Macke (German, Expressionism, 1887-1914). Oil on canvas. Kunsthalle, Bremen.

Macke’s simple and direct approach to everyday life, his carefully balanced compositions, and his lively colors all enhanced his images of the column-like figures. The serene and balanced visions show a world of visual poetry which separates him from the more forceful works of his expressionist friends.

Candle Dancers (1912). Emil Nolde (German, Expressionism, 1867-1956). Oil on canvas.

Nolde’s taste for the liberating, ecstatic character of more natural forms of dance is clear. Once saying that he disliked “sugary ballet and dancing on points,” he loved to watch the body in such free and natural movement, associating this with the lives of primitive peoples and their joy in dancing.

Hot Jazz (1940). Franz Kline (American, Expressionism, 1910-1962). Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk.

Kline’s “burlesque show” conceivably began with the solo singer, as shown in the work Hot Jazz which captures all of the sensational and alluring elements of the opening act of a live show. The importance of the live performance was the singer’s appearance with a focus on her curvaceous shape and her subtle bodily movements being of special interest and allure.

English Dance Couple (1913). Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German, Expressionism, 1880-1938). Oil on canvas. Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

The dance scenes, like English Dance Couple, that Kirchner repeatedly painted played a major role in Expressionist art. The atmosphere in which the dances took place (cafés or cabarets), the unbridled movements of the bodies, and the sophisticated gowns and evening attire reflected a passion for life.

Green Violinist (Violiniste), 1923–24. Marc Chagall (Russian, Expressionism, 1887–1985). Oil on canvas. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

In Green Violinist, based on earlier versions of the same subject, Chagall evoked his homeland. His cultural and religious legacy is illuminated by the figure of the violinist dancing in a rustic village. The Chabad Hasidim of Chagall’s childhood believed it possible to achieve communion with God through music and dance, and the fiddler was a vital presence in ceremonies and festivals.

Spring in the Room (1904). Emil Nolde (German, Expressionism,1867-1956). Oil on canvas. Nolde Siftung Seebüll. Model is Nolde’s wife Ada reading in the fisherman’s house on the island of Alsen.

Nolde’s paintings were reviled by Hitler and the National Socialists. In 1937, his paintings were exhibited and widely ridiculed at the Nazi organised Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) exhibition, with a further thousand works being confiscated from museums and galleries.

Dancing Bar in Baden-Baden (1923). Max Beckmann (German, Expressionism, 1884-1950). Oil on canvas. Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen, Munich.

Stephan Lackner writes: “The rhythm and sparkle of this picture are reminiscent of a Stravinsky tango. There is sarcasm, but also fun and fascination. Sharp dissonances are held together by an exhilarating beat.

The colors are iridescent like an oil film on a puddle, subtly indicating Beckmann’s social criticism of the upper crust. Changeable hues form an almost poisonous harmony evocative of the life-style of those years…”

Fairies and Fireflies. Michelle Torrez.

Known for her color work, Torrez does expressionistic oil paintings of figures that are intended to communicate the beauty of unlikely emotion, movement and life.

Torrez believes that the greatest influences on her work were the circumstances of her childhood and teenage years: “My life has influenced me to look deeper to find the beauty and humanity in people and places. Even at an early age, I knew I was an artist.”

The Cellist (1909). Amedeo Modigliani (Italian, Expressionism, 1884-1920). Oil on canvas.

Artist Kurt Stoermer admired the painting’s “extremely subtle technique,” which, through an artistic differentiation of colours, allowed the musician to merge into his instrument and showed him in a curious state of reverie. “Later”, Stoermer continued, “I saw in [Modigliani’s] subsequent works that the strongly emotional style of The Cellist represented a stage in his development that he soon left behind him. He hated feelings.”

Poetry Reading. Irene Sheri (Ukraine, 1968-).

Sheri graduated valedictorian from the prestigious Saint Petersburg Academy of Art. At school Sheri experimented with images and colors, allowing herself to paint landscapes with contrasts of light and shadow similar to the “Russian Expressionistic Movement.” Sheri’s style evolved from the influence of a renegade professor, who told his students – “after so many years at school you now are able to copy the world surrounding you. It is about time you let yourself create a world that is totally yours, that comes from within your own soul.”

Model in the Studio. Wojciech Weiss (Polish, 1875-1950).

Weiss originally painted historical or mythological paintings, but later switched to Expressionism after being profoundly influenced by Stanisław Przybyszewski. Weiss later became a member of the Vienna Secession. He was one of the first Polish Art Nouveau poster designers. Near the end of his life, he made several significant contributions to paintings of the Socialist realism in Poland.