Description
Book SynopsisIn Expressionism and Poster Design in Germany 1905–1925, Kathleen Chapman re-defines Expressionism by situating it in relation to the most common type of picture in public space during the Wilhelmine twentieth century, the commercial poster. Focusing equally on visual material and contemporaneous debates surrounding art, posters, and the image in general, this study reveals that conceptions of a “modern” image were characterized not so much by style or mode of production and distribution, but by a visual rhetoric designed to communicate more directly than words. As instances of such rhetoric, Expressionist art and posters emerge as equally significant examples of this modern image, demonstrating the interconnectedness of the aesthetic, the utilitarian, and the commercial in European modernism.
Trade Review“This book is essential reading for all scholars on modern German art.” Christian Weikop, University of Edinburgh. In: Print Quarterly, Vol. 39, No. 4 (December 2022), pp. 471–474.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Introduction: Expressionism between Spirit and Commerce 1 Illustration, Abstraction, Advertising: Wilhelm Worringer and the Continuities of German Art 2 Hieroglyphic Appeal: The Visual Rhetoric of the German Object Poster, Werkbund Style, and Expressionist Art 3 Promoting Expressionism before Expressionism: Künstlergruppe Brücke and Theories of the Modern Image before World War I 4 From War to Revolution, from Propaganda to Art: Expressionism and Posters of the Revolutionary Period 5 Expressionism after Expressionism: “Dead” Expressionism and Theories of the Modern Image after World War I Conclusion: Expressionism as Buzzword Copyright of Figures Bibliography
