Neo-expressionism was an artistic movement that emerged in the 1970s in reaction to abstract art. It focused on using bright colors and rough brushwork. Major German neo-expressionist artists included George Baselitz, Markus Lüpertz, A.R. Penck, and Jörg Immendorff. Their figurative paintings addressed political divisions in Germany. Other significant neo-expressionist movements occurred in Italy and the United States during this period.

1. Chapter 25
PAINTING
THROUGH HISTORY

2. Neo-Expressionism was an
artistic movement developed in
the 1970s as a reaction against
abstract art.
The artists that embraced this
movement used bright colors in
predominantly analogous
harmonies.
Most artists that embraced this
movement had very little, if
anything in common.
Neo-expressionism re-focused
attention on European artists.
Primal Passions:
Neo-Expressionism
Pablo Picasso, Reclining Woman and Man
Playing Guitar, 1970. Oil on canvas, 51” x
76.75”, Musée Picasso

3. German artist George Baselitz
• was a figurative painter
• considered to be a pioneer of
neo-expressionism.
• celebrated the qualities of
texture by applying paint
roughly with visible brush
strokes.
• the surface of his painting have
a sculptural quality.
Georg Baselitz , Der Brückechor (The
Brücke Chorus)., 1983. oil on canvas.
110 x 177.2 inches. Private collection.
German Neo-Expressionism: Baselitz, Lüpertz, Penck, and
Immendorff

4. German artist Markus Lüpertz
• was born in the Czech Republic in
1941. In 1948, he and his family
arrived in Germany as refugees.
• Starting in 1962 experimented with
different modes of expression.
• in the late 1970s, he led the return of
figurative painting at the time of
Abstract Expressionism’s and Pop
Art’s domination.
Markus Lüpertz, Schwarz-
Rot-Gold, oil on canvas,
110 x 179 inches. Private
collection.

5. A. R. Penk
• was exiled to West Germany
where he became affiliated
with Neo-Expressionist
artists;
• was self-taught. He focused
on content and adopted a
seemingly simple approach
to representing the human
figure.
• he is often associated with
Keith Haring and Jean-
Michel Basquiat.
A. R. Penk, The Red Airplane, 1985.
Oil on canvas, 3’ 11” x 6’ 10.5”. Private
collection.

6. Jörg Immendorff. Café Deutschland,
1977-78. Acrylic on canvas. 9’2” x
10’10”. Museum Ludwig Cologne.
At the time Germany was split
in East and West Germany,
Jörg Immendorff (west
Germany) and A.J. Penk (East
Germany) used art to bridge
the cultural gaps and
overcome the barrier imposed
by the Berlin wall.
Café Deutschland series
• consists of hundreds of oil
paintings Immendorff began
to work in 1977;
• symbolizes the conflict
between East and West
Germany;
• the column symbolizes the
Berlin Wall.

7. Polke, Richter, and Kiefer
Sigmar Polke’s trademark consists of
• blurring forms
• and subverting content
• glamorizing the mass media.
The dots Polke uses are a reference to Pop
artist Roy Lichtenstein, but not as an
imitation.
Polke’s style, Capitalist Realism, is his
version of Pop. He was critical of American
Pop Art.
Roy Lichtenstein’s process was very
different than Polke’s.
Sigmar Polke, Bunnies,
1966, acrylic on
canvas, 150 x 100 cm /
59 x 39-½” (Hirshhorn
Museum, Washington
D.C.)

8. Gerhard Richter
• was born in 1932 in Dresden, Germany;
• produced:
• abstract paintings;
• photorealistic paintings;
• photographs and glass pieces;
• is considered the most important
Contemporary German artist;
• borrows imagery from newspapers, and
family and friends’ photographs.
• his imagery and technique are equally
important;
Gerhard Richter, Uncle
Rudi. 1965. Oil on canvas
34-1⁄4 × 19-2⁄3”. Lidice
Gallery. Czech Republic

9. Richter
• was an active participant in the
Capitalist Realism movement.
• returned to abstraction in the
1960’s;
• employs a complex painting
technique that mixes scraping,
brushing, and troweling, to
achieve his desired effects;Gerhard Richter. Vase
1984. Oil on canvas
7’ 4-1⁄2” × 6’ 6-3⁄4”
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

10. Anselm Kiefer
• actively engages the past
in his work;
• works in very large scale;
• achieves his characteristic
texture through
application of pigments
combined with found
fragments of metal, straw,
and lead which he
incorporates in the
surface of the painting.
Anselm Kiefer. Departure from Egypt. 1984
Oil, straw, lacquer & lead on canvas
12’ 5” × 18’5”. Museum of Contemporary Art,
Los Angeles.

11. Italian Neo-Expressionism:
Clemente, Chia, and Cucchi
Francesco Clemente
• worked in a figurative style at the time
conceptual art was in full swing.
• Uses color to evoke anxiety and
violence
Sandro Chia
• is a prominent figure in the Italian
neo-Expressionist movement
Transavanguardia.
• creates compositions featuring
symbolism
• challenges the rigidity of the Neo-
Classical style;
Sandro Chia. The Idleness of
Sisyphus. 1981. Oil on canvas,
two panels. 10' 2" x 12' 8 1/4“
Museum of Modern Art, New
York.

12. American Neo-Expressionism:
Schnabel, Salle, and Fischl
Julian Schnabel
• is best known for his work that
combines three dimensional
material on a two dimensional
surface;
• his collage-like paintings are a
rejection of Minimalist, a true
turning point for painting;
• gained notoriety in the 1980s,
his infamous works on velvet
Julian Schnabel. The Sea, 1981
oil, Mexican pots, bondo on wood,
108" x 156", 1981
Whitney Museum of American Art,
1988

13. David Salle
• gained prominence in the 1980s
as a leader in the return to
figurative painting;
• is well known for his large-scale
canvases featuring a seemingly
disjunctive arrangement of
elements;
• paired Pop art imagery with
Surrealism
• often achieves different moods
within one work.
David Salle. Tennyson, 1983
Oil & acrylic on canvas. 6’ 6” × 9’ 9”
Courtesy of Mary Boone Gallery.

14. Eric Fischl
• is an American Neo-Expressionist
painter and sculptor best known
for his ambiguous figurative
paintings;
• continued to expose the
contradictory nature of suburban
America;
• focused on the subject of human
relationships;
• depicts moments when something
potentially disastrous or taboo is
about to happen.
Eric Fischl. The Old Man’s Boat
and the Old Man’s Dog. 1982
Oil on canvas. 7 × 7’. Private
Collection

15. Golub and Spero
• Leon Gloub was married to and
collaborated with the artist
Nancy Spero
• during their careers they
explored gender from a social
and political perspective;
• their paintings confront the
dynamics of global power and
its consequences.
• for Golub abuse of power has a
long history that goes back to
antiquity;
Searing Statements: Social
Conscience
Leon Golub. White Squad (El
Salvador) IV 1983 Acrylic on
canvas. 120 x 152“. Courtesy
Ronald Feldman, New York.

16. Coe and Applebroog
Sue Coe
• is a contemporary English
artist
• is noted for her political
graphic illustrations;
• grew up near a
slaughterhouse;
• has a passion for animal
rights activism. Sue Coe. The
Malcolm X and the Slaughter
House.

17. Ida Applebroog
• is a celebrated feminist
artist. Born in the Bronx,
NY,
• artist’s statement:
“My work deals primarily
with the subtexts of
gender politics,
communication
breakdowns, and socio-
sexual dysfunction, while
always chronicling the
banal.”
Ida Applebroog. Noble Fields, 1987.
Oil on canvas, 5 panels, overall
7’ 2 ‘ x 11”. Solomon Guggenheim
Museum, New York.

18. Neo-Geo Abstraction: Halley
and Bleckner
Peter Halley
• introduced Neo-Geo
Abstraction as a new type of
geometric painting that
rejected the non-objective
abstraction;
• his source of inspiration
consisted of material such as
microchips and battery cells.
Ross Bleckner
• is best known for his paintings
dealing with loss and memory.
In the Empire of Signs:
Neo-Geo
Peter Halley. Two Cells with Circulating
Conduit, 1985. Acrylic, fluorescent
acrylic, Day-Glo and Roll-a-Tex on
canvas. Collection Cooperfund, Inc.

19. Murray
Elizabeth Murray
• abstract painter
• best known for
• her large-scale, shaped
paintings on canvas
• cartoonish drawing style.
• her painting are
• sculptural,
• Inspired by Abstract
Expressionism and Pablo
Picasso’s Cubist works,
• intricate collage-like
canvases.
The Sum of Many Parts:
Abstraction in the 1980s
Elizabeth Murray. Art Part, 1981.
Twenty-two canvases,
overall 9’ 7” x 10’ 4”.
Neslon-Atkins Museum of Art,
Kansas City

20. Harring and Basquiat
Keith Harring
• in 1978 and began making
chalk drawings in subway
stations.
• he eventually became renown
• he was also known for his
activism in promoting AIDS
awareness.
• he died of AIDS-related
complications in 1990, at age
31.
Taking Art to the Streets:
Graffiti and Cartoon Artists
Keith Haring, One Man Show 1982
Installation.

21. Jean-Michel Basquiat
• was an influential African-
American artist
• was responsible for
elevating graffiti art to
mainstream;
• his spray-painted imagery
referenced his Haitian and
Puerto Rican heritage,
political issues, pop-culture
icons, and Biblical verse.
• his work aligned him with
the street art of Keith
Haring and the Neo-
Expressionists Julian
Schnabel and David Salle.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Grillo, 1984. Oil on
wood with nails. Tefan T. Edis Colelction,
Chicago.

22. David Wojnarowicz
• was an American
• activist.
• writer,
• painter,
• photographer,
• poet,
• Printmaker
• Throughout his career, he
used painting, performance,
film, and photography to
draw attention to civil rights.
David Wojnarowicz, Fire, 1987. Acrylic
and mixed media on wood. 79” x 96”
Museum of Modern Art, NY.

23. Currin and Yskavage
John Currin
• uses classical techniques to
portray highly charged social
taboos.
• Inspired by Old Master portraits,
and pinups, he paints perverse
images of women.
• is the search for the balance
between the beautiful and the
grotesque;
Painting Art History
John Currin, The Criple,
1997. Oil on canvas. 44” x
36”. Private Collection.

24. Lisa Yuskvage
• paints contemporary subjects
using classic, historical techniques.
• depicts figures set within surreal
landscapes or dramatically lit
interiors,
• confronts the male gaze in the
context of female nudes in Western
painting.
Lisa Yuskvage,
Honeymoon, 1998. Oil on
linen. 79.5”x 55”. Private
Collection.