Imagine walking into a large room where an
artist is standing on top of a canvas meticulously
splattering paint.
Upon questioning the artist as to what his
goal is, he claims, "The painting has a mind
of its own," and will tell him when it's complete.
He responds, "Something in me knows where
I'm going."
This artist is Jackson Pollock.
Known best for his incredibly large canvases
filled with seemingly random paint splatters,
Pollock was one of the leading artists of
the Abstract Movement.
I know what you're thinking...
Anyone can throw paint onto a canvas.
Why is he a leading artist?
Well, it gets a bit more difficult than just
the process.
The art theory and movement behind this way
of thinking is called Expressionism.
Expressionism as a theory asserts that artists
are inspired by emotional experiences and
shows these emotions in their work to share
with their viewers.
It was born from the ideas of the 19th Century
Romanticist movement, where strong emotions
emphasize imagination, feeling, and intuition.
To help let that lengthy definition settle,
let's discuss Max Beckmann.
Max Beckmann was a German artist, painting
during the time of World War II.
While many label him as an Expressionist,
he actually refused to call himself one.
He became a part of the New Objectivity movement,
which challenged Expressionism's abstraction
with unsentimental reality and a focus on
the objective world.
However, many of his ideas about the self
fall within the Expressionist realm.
Beckmann, must like Rembrandt, is well known
for his self-portraits.
He's been quoted saying, "One of my problems
is to find the self."
And so he searched, painting many self-portraits
along the way.
Many...
Many self-portraits.
Beckmann loved to paint himself.
Here he is in a fancy tux, he's in a very
nice blue jacket here, now he's a nurse...
Oh, he's got a horn in this one.
Here he is in Florence, and here, sporting
a lovely red scarf.
But, hold on.
We can all tell that each of these portraits
are of Beckmann, but why does he look so different
in each one?
He looks so poised here in Florence, yet so
pale and sickly with his red scarf.
The way Beckmann painted his self-portraits
epitomizes the idea of Expressionism.
When Beckmann would paint a self-portrait,
he didn't just paint what he saw.
He painted how he felt - what he thought he
looked like on the inside.
Expressionism as a theory dates back to 1897,
when Leo Tolstoy, of the War and Peach fame,
wrote What is Art?
At first, Expressionists were only concerned
with two terms: the artist and the artwork.
Tolstoy added a third term: the viewer.
In layman's terms, the artist creates something,
whether painting, sculpture, literature or
music, based on feelings he or she had been
living through, and successfully sharing these
feelings with his or her viewer allows them
to share the experience.
Why is this even a theory?
Expressionism gives art a place in the Western
culture, asserting that art is beneficial.
It allows art to reach out to everyone, as
it appeals to emotion rather than physical
objects.
Sounds awesome, right?
Why hasn't this answered once and for all
what art is?
Much like all of the other theories attempting
to answer that age-old question, "What is
art?", Expressionism has its downfalls.
According to Tolstoy's version of Expressionism,
if the artist wasn't feeling the specific
feeling being evoked by the viewer, it's not
art.
Horror films cause strong emotions, but should
it be considered a higher work of art over
other pieces like Shakespeare?
So, why is it that Pollock, mentioned earlier,
is considered art?
Well, let's hear it from 
the man himself.
With the invention of cameras, art is no longer
needed to document history, allowing for the
artist to paint however they feel.
Pollock epitomizes this idea.
It's not about the technique or skill; It's
about the expression, which according to Expressionists,
makes his piece a work of art.
