Otto Mueller - Die Brücke

Otto Mueller - Village Creek with Bathers - c. 1928 - Private collection - c. 1928 - Height: 90.4 cm (35.59 in.), Width: 116.2 cm (45.75 in.) - Distemper on burlap (click photo for larger image)Otto Mueller (1874-1930) was a leading member of the Die Brücke  (The Bridge) group, the first wave of German Expressioism. The works of this movement are characterized by an intensity of emotional and violent imagery not apparent in this particular work by Mueller. The group broke up at the onset of WWI, over artistic differences. It was followed by Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), which was a more positive strain of Expressionism that sought to express spirituality. Our featured work is much more of that ilk.

Paul Cadmus - Magic Realism

Paul Cadmus - Coney Island - 1934 - Oil on canvas - Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (click photo for larger image)Magic Realism is an American style of art with decidedly Surrealist overtones. While the art is seemingly anchored in everyday reality, but includes implications of fantasy and wonder. The term “Magic Realism” was later also applied to the literary works of such authors as Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez. One of the Magic Realists of the visual arts was American artists Paul Cadmus (1904-1999). There are tinges of both eroticism and social critique in Cadmus’s art, which have led to his sometimes being labeled a “Social Realist.” Although the work featured here was completed in oils, Cadmus was also one of the few artists of his day who worked in egg tempera.

Philip Pearlstein - Contemporary Realism

Philip Pearlstein - Portrait of Alex Katz - 1978 - Oil on aluminum cutout painted front and back - H. 48, W. 32-1/2 inches (121.9 x 82.6 cm.) - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (click photo for larger image)Contemporary Realism is a straightforward realistic approach to representation that continues to be widely practiced in the post-abstract era. It is different from Photorealism, which is a style that closely resembles photographs, but which is somewhat exaggerated, ironic and conceptual. One of the artists associated with Contemporary Realism was Phillip Pearlstein (born 1924). Pearlstein is hailed by critics as a preeminent figural painter (in the context of modernism).

Francis Picabia - An Explorer

Francis Picabia - Hera, c. 1929, oil on cardboard, 105 × 75 cm. - Private collectionThere are some artists who prefer to remain working in those styles for which they’re best known--while others continue to explore new approaches and evolve stylistically over the course of their careers. French painter Francis Picabia (1879-1953) was an artist who enjoyed experimentation, and is therefore associated with the Modern movements of Cubism, Orphism, Abstract Art, Dada, and Surrealism--among others.

Egon Schiele - Austrian Expressionism

Egon Schiele - Self Portrait - 1912 - Sammlung Leopold (click photo for larger image)Austrian painter Egon Schiele (1890-1918) created work that was “...noted for the intensity and the large number of self-portraits he produced. The twisted body shapes that characterize Schiele's paintings and drawings make the artist a notable exponent of Expressionism.” Although his career was short (he died at the age of 28), Schiele made a major contribution to modernism.