Explore the Expressionism about the Style and techniques of this artwork.
Expressionism flourished between approximately 1905 to 1920 within Europe, emerging in Germany prior to WW1. Kirchner was a founding member and prominent advocate for Die Brücke, an Expressionist group founded in 1905. Expressionism was concerned with the expression of emotions and heightened individuality in opposition to bourgeois life fuelled by industrialisation and urbanisation. The movement symbolised artistic revolt against traditional aesthetics, techniques and appraisal of art. Expressionism advocated the expression of one's "internal emotion rather than external impressions". The amplification and distortion of form and colour, often non-naturalistic in hue, was central to Expressionism. Kirchner's 'Self-Portrait as a Soldier' epitomises Expressionism through depiction of the horrors of war and of Kirchner's internal psyche and individual symbolic reflection upon anxiety, disability and anguish. Technical application of oil paint to create Self Portrait as a Soldier also relays Expressionist influence. Peter Springer states that the work's thin, sharp directional lines and the perceived volatility of paint application evoke Kirchner's nervous activity in creating the work.
Expressionism Germany industrialisation urbanisation Expressionist Die Brücke Kirchner