German Expressionism

"Murnau with Rainbow" is the name of the painting on the postage stamp above. Murnau with Rainbow, was painted in 1909 by Wassily Kandinsky during the expressionist modernist movement. Although Kandinsky's work flourished during his time in Germany, he was actually Russian; and finally settled in France till his death in 1944. Kandinsky is best known as "one of the founding fathers of abstract painting".[1]  Kandinsky was not an artist or a painter by training; on the contrary, he actually studied at the University of Moscow "law, economics, and ethnography", and accepted a position as a professor.[2]

The change in profession allowed Wassily Kandinsky to explore a completely different field from his, to which he not only enjoyed, but is known as "an influential Russian painter and art theorist". [3] His success in the field led him to establish the Der Blaue Reiter a.k.a The Blue Rider group (1911-1914), which focused on abstract paintings, "[evolving] from fluid and organic to geometric and, finally to pictographic".[4] The works produced by the artists in the Der Blaue Reiter group are known to have formed the basis for the German expressionism movement.[5] However, for the Der Blaue Reiter artists to adopt an expressionist form of art was not only a style, it held "spiritual values" which transcended the material world.[6] Thus, exhibiting more of a belief or a mindset so to say, and for Kandinsky, the Der Blaue Reiter was symbolic to his work, which was "moving beyond [the] realistic representation…[and a] symbol of rebirth".[7]

Murnau, Dorfstrasse (1908)

What is German expressionism?

"German expressionism is a cultural movement that started the First World War, and had its peak during the 1920's. It can best be described as a creative movement, although, especially where the painters are concerned, it was also a mindset. German Expressionism was represented, in the early days, by two groups of artists, Die Bruecke in the North of Germany and Der Blaue Reiter in the South."[8]

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Sources:

1. "Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944)." Contemporary World Issues: Global Refugee Crisis: A Reference Handbook, Second Edition, Mark Gibney, ABC-CLIO, 2nd edition, 2010. Credo Reference.
2. "Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944)." Contemporary World Issues: Global Refugee Crisis: A Reference Handbook, Second Edition, Mark Gibney, ABC-CLIO, 2nd edition, 2010. Credo Reference. 
3. https://useum.org/artist/Vasily-Kandinsky
4. "Wassily Kandinsky." Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 8 Feb. 2012. 
5. http://germanexpressionism.net/
6. https://www.moma.org/s/ge/curated_ge/styles/blaue_reiter.html
7. https://www.moma.org/s/ge/curated_ge/styles/blaue_reiter.html
8. http://germanexpressionism.net/

Further reading:
https://www.moma.org/s/ge/collection_ge/artist/artist_id-2981.html

http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/