Leni Riefenstahl

Leni Riefenstahl was a German director, actress and dancer. She is most notable for the direction of "Triumph des Willens" or "Triumph of the Will". She also directed movies such as "The Blue Light", "Victory of Faith" and "Lowlands". Her acting career included "The Holy Mountain", "The White Hell of Pitz Palu" and "S.O.S. Eisberg". More on her later...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leni_Riefenstahl

Otto Dix

"Otto Dix (1891-1969), the great German Expressionist, was famous for his unique and grotesque style. Although Hitler's Nazi regime destroyed many of Otto Dix's works, the majority of his paintings can still be seen in museums throughout Germany."

Self-portrait as Mars, 1915













The Skat PLayers, 1920











To Beauty, 1922











The Seven Cardinal Sins, 1933














Masks as Ruins, 1946













http://www.mess.net/galleria/dix/


Dix was also well-known for his depictions of war in Germany and its effects on the German society. A share of his works was destroyed by the Nazis, but most still survive.

Trench Warfare, 1932
















http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARTdix.htm

Egon Schiele

Self Portrait with black Vase
1911, oil on wood, Historiches Museum der Stadt, Wien/Vienna (100 Kb)
(thanks to Harlan Wallach)

Egon Leo Adolf Schiele, 1890-1918, was an Austrian expressionist who was controversial for the erotic depictions in his artwork. In 1907, he met Gustav Klimt, who did similar artwork, and whom Schiele took after for the first few years. But soon, he picked up his own art style that involved jagged lines to express the artwork. Eroticism was a major theme in his pieces, which had him briefly imprisoned for obscenity in 1912.

Schiele drawing nude before mirror
1910, pencil, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna













http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/schiele/

More Wikipedia

The most commonly used expression in expressionism is angst, but other expressions can be used. The art form is originated from Germany in the early 1900s. Artists in the genre include Otto Dix, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Philip Guston and Willem de Kooning. Categories include New York Figurative Expressionism, Lyrical Abstraction, Bay Area Figurative Movement, Abstract Expressionism and Neo-Expressionism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressionism

Beginning Studies

I guess the best place to start any studies is Wikipedia.

"Its typical trait is to present the world under an utterly subjective perspective, violently distorting it to obtain an emotional effect and vividly transmit personal moods and ideas." So basically it is a work of art that uses its mood to express the situation being depicted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressionism