The Anxious Eye: German Expressionism and Its Legacy establishes exciting connections between the Expressionists of the early 20th century and subsequent generations. The influential art movement continues to fascinate today. The exhibition with over 100 exhibits can be seen from February 11 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
»This exhibition invites visitors to consider the striking parallels between the intensity of human emotion and experience conveyed in the work of the German expressionists during a transformational historic period in the early 20th century and current responses to the cultural and political shifts taking place in our world today«, said Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art. The exhibition The Anxious Eye: German Expressionism and Its Legacy brings together artworks created between 1908 and 2021. German Expressionists rejected academic art traditions and sought new representations of the ugly and the heroization of the banal. They opted for distorted forms, bright colors and simplified figures to convey complicated emotional reactions in the midst of social upheaval. The traumatic experiences of the First World War strengthened the young movement in its aims. Expressionism is one of the most influential art movements of the 20th century and continues to have an impact on artists today. The exhibition runs from February 11 to May 27 in Washington, D.C.
In addition to works on loan, new acquisitions from the National Gallery will also be presented as exhibits. Some of them have rarely, some of them have never been seen before in public. Among the artists on display are Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Emil Nolde, Otto Dix, Käthe Kollwitz, Egon Schiele, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Paul Gangolf, Walter Grammatté, Leonard Baskin, Nicole Eisenman, Orit Hofshi, Rashid Johnson and Matthias Mansen. The exhibition is divided into four chapters: (self-)portraits that deal with the sitter's emotions rather than their appearance, the destructive qualities of human beings, human gestures as an expression of interpersonal relationships and the legacy of Expressionism.
The renowned Whitechapel Gallery in London pays tribute to an important British artist: Peter Kennard: Archive of Dissent presents numerous of his photomontages from the last 50 years. The exhibition opens on July 23.
From July 20, a central voice in British photography will be honored: Sunderland will host Ian Macdonald: Fixing Time, the first major retrospective of the photographer who focused primarily on working class life.
