Allusion is not Illusion
You'll pry my books off my cold, dead body. By the time you shift them all I'll be flat and dessicated.
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Excellent overview of German Expressionism
I would highly recommend this for layperson wanting a reasonably comprehensive introduction to Expressionist art and its historical and cultural context. This book presents a fairly thorough sampling of the major artists and groups, and can be understood without much background in art theory. The author occasionally lapses into jargonish phrases such as "autonomous colors" but for the most part technical elements are clearly explained. The art reproductions are numerous and of high quality.
After the introduction, the chapters are arranged by groups or cities. Each begins with an overview and is followed by detailed treatments of the major artists, with a small amount of pertinent biographical information. Thus, we have
Die Brücke Group: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Max Pechstein, Otto Mueller.
Kirchner's portrait of the group
Northern German Expressionism: Emil Nolde, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Christian Rohlfs
Paula Modersohn-Becker - Pram, children and goat
The Blaue Reiter: Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Alexei von Jawlensky, Gabriele Munter, Marianne von Werefkin
Wassily Kandinsky, The Blue Rider
Rhenish Expressionism: August Macke, Heinrich Campendonk, Wilhelm Morgner
Campendonk, Bucolic Landscape
The Subject of the City: Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Conrad Felixmuller, Ludwig Meidner, Lyonel Feininger
Meidner, Burning City
Expressionism in Vienna: Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele
Kokoschka, Lovers with cat
Obviously some of these individuals belonged to more than one group or location. And some who are grouped together had no contact with one another. Elger explains in the text which people influenced each other and when.
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