Expressionism

This section talks about changes in the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s, especially the anxiety that came with modern life. Romantic and Symbolist painters explored some of th

ese ideas through supernatural subjects. Henry Fuseli, a Romantic painter, made a well-known painting where a woman is shown asleep, possibly under the effects of laudanum, a drug made from opium. She’s having what looks like a nightmare, where she feels like she can’t breathe. The painting includes a small creature sitting on her chest and a ghostly figure in the shadows. It’s a literal image of sleep paralysis, a condition where a person is awake but can’t move and often feels pressure on their chest.

In another painting, there’s a woman who appears to be asleep or turning her head, while spirits—possibly her ancestors—look on. The presence of these ghostly figures adds to the feeling that something spiritual or supernatural is happening.

Paul Gauguin, a Post-Impressionist, traveled to Tahiti in the 1890s. He left Europe during a time when many people were turning away from religion and traditional beliefs. Gauguin said he was looking for something more instinctive and spiritual. In some of his Tahitian paintings, figures appear surrounded by symbols of death or are being watched by shadowy figures. The presence of spirits in his work suggests a belief in the supernatural, not necessarily a fear of death, but more a sense of death being nearby. These themes are part of a long tradition in European art known as memento mori, which are reminders of death.

Both artists were working at a time when people were becoming more uneasy with changes in society—especially changes related to science, urban life, and new technology. These feelings show up in their art as isolation, supernatural imagery, and themes of death.

Here’s a quote from Edvard Munch: “For as long as I can remember, I have suffered from a deep feeling of anxiety, which I have tried to express in my art. Without anxiety and illness, I should have been like a ship without a rudder.” While that’s Munch talking about his own work, the painting we’re looking at is actually by Gustav Klimt. Klimt wasn’t as openly emotional or melancholic as Munch, but his paintings still deal with some of the same ideas—especially the tension between life and death.

In this painting, you can clearly see a division: on one side, there’s a figure with a skull-like face, representing death. On the other side, there’s a group of people—women, children—wrapped in colorful, patterned fabrics, which seem to flow together like a current. Klimt lived in Vienna around the turn of the 20th century, when the city was full of artistic and intellectual energy. Composers like Gustav Mahler were performing there, and the whole place was filled with cultural activity. But alongside all that creativity, Vienna was also experiencing the pressure of modernization—things like railroads, expanding cities, and new inventions were reshaping how people lived. These changes may have influenced Klimt’s paintings, just like they shaped the work of earlier artists like Munch and Fuseli.

In this painting, the idea of memento mori—a reminder of death—comes through in the way the figures are arranged. Death stands to one side, wrapped in a robe covered in small crosses. The way the robe is designed—with sharp angles and hard lines—feels very different from the curved shapes and soft forms in the rest of the painting. The other side is filled with sleeping or resting figures, often embracing, surrounded by flat, decorative patterns that resemble textiles.

At the time, factory-made fabrics were common, and mass production had changed how people dressed and decorated their homes. Klimt includes lots of these patterns in his work. Instead of creating a traditional, realistic space with shading and depth—chiaroscuro—he uses flat shapes and layered designs. The background looks almost like a diagram, with a cartoon-like quality.

The designs in the fabrics also seem to mark gender differences. Round, flowing shapes are often used for women, while the square or angular ones tend to go with men. There’s a lot going on here—ideas about gender, death, maybe religion, too. The figure of death even holds a kind of staff or candlestick, though it’s not totally clear what it is. The crosses on the robe might be linked to religion or ritual.

Klimt was working during a time when photography had already been around for decades. Artists were no longer expected to paint only what the eye could see. He had to find new ways to make his art meaningful. His work often combines themes of love, sex, death, and the passage of time.

One of his most famous paintings, The Kiss, brings these ideas together again. It’s been copied and referenced a lot over the years. In it, he continues exploring how patterns, color, and simplified forms can carry meaning in a world that was quickly changing.

Come and study with me, videos, etexts, and study guides,
https://www.udemy.com/user/kenneymencher/