German Expressionism: Warning...this exhibition could ' drive you mad.'
A trip to the Musée Fleury in Lodève.
Joan
7/19/20244 min read
When I first saw the poster for this year's summer exhibition at our local museum, I was very disappointed. "Psychoses?" I moaned. Who wants to see a series of clips from horror films, or related Expressionist art for that matter? It all sounded so depressing. Why not bring back those beautiful impressionist paintings of past exhibitions? Let us revisit those beautiful portraits of children by Berthe Morisot, or see again those brilliant colours of the 'fauvistes ,' or the fascinating mobiles of Alexander Calder. And yes, let's have more of such things. But Psychoses? This summer exhibition was once a central highlight of my summer. Nowadays I no longer wish to visit it.
Yesterday I needed to go into town, so I decided to give the exhibition a try. I am very glad that I did. It occupies the entire second floor of this beautiful 17C building. As one proceeds through the various rooms, scenes from silent movies from the nineteen twenties flicker across the far walls. Shadowy figures lurk and hover. They brandish knives and terrorise sweet innocent maidens. The films featured are 'Nosferatu the Vampire,' 'Metropolis,' and the Cabinet of Dr Caligari.' But what is the point? Doesn't this distract the art seeker?
I began to peruse the art that was arranged along the walls. After all, that was what I had really come to explore. Until then, I knew very little about what they called Expressionism. Nearly all the images were in black and white and , just like the projected films, they distorted reality, and gave off a threatening, unhappy air. Here are some of my favourite pieces.
Portraits were sombre and reflective.
Before I arrived at the gallery, I had only recognised one of the artists' names : that of Otto Dix. I was already familiar with some of his striking , characterful portraits, and was looking forward to seeing more of his work. There were two examples here. The first is a portrait entitled 'Lust Murderer' in which a body seems to have been torn from limb to limb, and blood spurts out. I did not enjoy this nearly as much as other portraits of his that I have seen. But still, it is in keeping with the gruesome theme of this expo.