Introduction

Jenni Wu

 

To see German Expressionism is not to know it. The powerful imagery and
purposeful lines that characterize our collection of German
Expressionist prints represent a movement that escapes definition. As
Paul Raabe writes in his contribution to the Rifkind Center's seminal
volumes on German Expressionist prints, Expressionism "should not be
seen...in terms of a common, unified spirit. What must be acknowledged
are the disunities, the diversity of Expressionism: the dissent as well
as the consensus; the opposition as well as the cooperation; the primacy
of the individual in the context of sympathy for kindred spirits" (115).
Indeed, at the beginning of the twentieth century, artists of groups
such as the Brücke (Bridge - in Dresden, later in Berlin) and the Blaue
Reiter (Blue Rider - in Munich) assumed many different roles as they
used their art to push the boundaries of a world in which they were
inevitably grounded. In our exhibition, we have chosen to focus on the
Expressionist printmakers as tightrope walkers, as those who daringly
undertook great risk in trying to rise above that ground to transform
society at large.

The Expressionists did not step blindly into the fray. The
philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche was among the sources that the
Expressionists used to inform their journey. The ideas outlined in
Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-85) correspond with the
Expressionists' belief that mankind, if it were willing to undertake the
journey, could achieve perfection. As a tightrope walker begins his
performance, Zarathustra addresses the gathered crowd in saying, "[m]an
is a rope, tied between beast and overman - a rope over an abyss. A
dangerous across, a dangerous on-the-way, a dangerous looking-back, a
dangerous shuddering and stopping. What is great in man is that he is a
bridge and not an end: what can be loved in man is that he is an
overture and a going under" (emphasis original 126-27). Seeking to
secure their precarious footing in this delicate endeavor, it was the
imbalance and discord of the artists that generated both the excitement
and the volatility of Expressionism.

In the introduction to her important book, German Expressionism:
Primitivism and Modernity, Jill Lloyd illustrates the instability
inherent to the movement, writing that "[t]he pendulum of Expressionist
emotion swings widely, and in between man walks on a narrow ledge, on a
bridge or a tightrope, suspended between conflicting possibilities"
(vii). Through its attempts to escape from the oppression of the
established society and its artistic conventions, and its pursuit of an
art capable of propelling social evolution, Expressionism left its mark
on everything from painting and literature to dance, cinema, and
architecture.* This exhibition, Walking a Tightrope: German
Expressionist Printmaking 1904-1928, highlights the Expressionists'
special affection for the print and its potential, and comments on the
discrepancies that sometimes existed between the Expressionists' lofty
ideals and reality.

Arming themselves with the accouterments of printmaking, the
Expressionists waged their campaign against their artistic
contemporaries, emphasizing the German heritage of the medium while
simultaneously abandoning all of its precedents. In his essay,
Expressionism and the Print: Idealism Cut from the Block, Matthew
Johnson explores the Expressionist printmakers' enthusiasm for their
chosen printing processes, which he describes. In the print media,
overlooked by other artists of the time, the Expressionists saw the
means through which their ideals could potentially be realized. Sarah
Labowitz, in The Art of Self-Discovery: Expressionist Portraiture,
investigates how reflections of these utopian ideals appeared in
Expressionist portraiture. By depicting themselves and others, the
Expressionists embarked upon an exploration of human nature, an
examination that they hoped would lead to enlightenment for all. It was
with this hope for the renewal of society that many of the
Expressionists entered into World War I (1914-18). However, as
Expressionists inevitably experienced destruction, not rejuvenation,
hope turned to spiritual devastation. Kevin Cannon's essay, Going Under:
War and Disillusionment, chronicles the changing emotions that
accompanied and followed the traumatic turmoil. The war and the
revolution that followed in Germany marked a definite turning point in
some of the ideals of the movement, and changed the career paths of many
of the artists who struggled to cope with their implications and
aftermath. The war period also witnessed a resurgence of spiritual
themes in Expressionist prints.

While the religious imagery of artists such as Emile Nolde and
Max Pechstein may seem to contradict their espousal of Nietzschean
ideas, Ashley Jones, in Invoking the Crucified after the Death of God:
Christian Iconography in German Expressionist Prints, illustrates the
weaving of ideals that allowed these artists to straddle both
Christianity and a philosophy that had earlier proclaimed the death of
God. Bridging this distance with seemingly little effort, the
Expressionists were blind to other potential pitfalls, some of which
become apparent only with the distance of years. With the eyes of a
modern viewer, Alicia Reid uses her essay, Salvaging the Unseen: Images
of Prostitutes Lost in Scandal, to question the vantage point of Otto
Dix's and George Grosz's portrayals of female prostitutes. As our
temporal removal from the movement allows us to recognize problematic
aspects of Expressionism, such as those that stem from depictions of
women and "the primitive," it also allows us to evaluate how well the
Expressionists succeeded in reaching and moving their desired audiences.
Focusing on the accessibility of prints and print portfolios, Margaret
G. MacDonald assesses the relationship between artist and consumer in
her essay, The Art Scabs: Questions of the True Accessibility of German
Expressionist Prints.

Despite critic Wilhelm Hausenstein's 1919 article "Die Kunst in
diesem Augenblick" ("Art of this Moment"), a death proclamation for the
movement that read, "as far as the arts and crafts are concerned,
Expressionism has long since been exhausted" (qtd. in Long 282), the
Expressionist prints have maintained a life of their own, sometimes
under improbable circumstances. Mordecai Scheckter's essay, Culture War
Veterans: German Expressionist Prints as Historical Artifacts, argues
that the movement's prints have gained a unique historical significance
by surviving the destruction that permanently silenced many works of art
beginning with Adolf Hitler's seizure of power in Germany in 1933.
Recognizing each print as a distinct artifact reemphasizes the singular
efforts made by individual artists swept up in the broader movement or
under the expansive label of German Expressionism. Carrie Robbins uses
the example of Max Beckmann to remind us that Expressionists did not
necessarily flock together or perch on the same tightrope. In her essay,
Max Beckmann: An Encounter with Expressionism, she uses the
contradictions found within one artist's career to illustrate the
complications that were present within the movement as a whole. She also
connects the existence of the Expressionists to our own, citing
Beckman's encouragement that we resist succumbing to the horror in the
world. Like all tightrope walkers, continuously traveling between points
of safety, we are advised to remain steadfast in our efforts, even when
the footing seems unsure. Just as Nietzsche's tightrope walker, who
falls to his death, receives not criticism, but honor for undertaking so
bold a feat, the German Expressionists must be applauded for the art
that represented their attempt at crossing.