Neo-expressionism
Description
Neo-expressionism is a style of late modernist or early-postmodern painting and sculpture that emerged in the late 1970s. Neo-expressionists were sometimes called Transavantgarde, Junge Wilde or Neue Wilden ('The new wild ones'; 'New Fauves' would better meet the meaning of the term). It is characterized by intense subjectivity and rough handling of materials. Read more ↗
Key Artists
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Leading American Neo-Expressionist superstar whose energetic, expressive canvases combined gestural painting with anatomical diagrams, poetry, and social critique.
Julian Schnabel
Major American Neo-Expressionist painter who famously introduced broken ceramic plates, thick impasto, and monumental scale to revive heroic figure painting.
Anselm Kiefer
Prominent German Neo-Expressionist painter who confronted Germany's dark historical past using dense, tactile layers of straw, ash, clay, and lead.
David Salle
Crucial American Neo-Expressionist painter known for layering disparate pop imagery, art historical references, and gestural brushwork across diptychs.
Francesco Clemente
Key Italian Transavanguardia and Neo-Expressionist painter whose fluid, dreamlike compositions explored deeply personal, mystical, and erotic themes.
Famous Artworks
Fun Facts
Neo-Expressionism emerged simultaneously across several countries under different names: in Germany it was called 'Neue Wilde' or 'Junge Wilde' (The New Wild Ones), in Italy 'Transavanguardia' (Beyond the Avant-Garde), and in France 'Figuration Libre.'
↗ Source: en.wikipedia.org
The rapid ascent of Neo-Expressionist painting in the early 1980s caused intense debates among art critics like Robert Hughes and Benjamin Buchloh, who argued over whether the style was a genuine revival of creative emotion or a market-driven capitulation to commercial galleries.
↗ Source: en.wikipedia.org