The New Objectivity, or neue Sachlichkeit (new matter-of-factness), was an art movement which arose in Germany during the 1920's in opposition to expressionism. It is thus post-expressionist.
Franz Roh (1925) listed the differences:
| Expressionism
| Post-Expressionism
|
| ecstatic objects
| plain objects
|
| many religious themes
| few religious themes
|
| the stifled object
| the explanatory object
|
| rhythmic
| representative
|
| arousing
| engrossing
|
| dynamic
| static
|
| loud
| quiet
|
| summary
| sustained
|
| obvious
| obvious and enigmatic...
|
| monumental
| miniature
|
| warm
| cool to cold
|
| thick coloration
| thin layer of color
|
| roughened
| smooth, dislodged
|
| like uncut stone
| like polished metal
|
| work process preserved
| work process effaced
|
| leaving traces
| pure objectification
|
| expressive deformation of objects
| harmonic cleansing of objects
|
| rich in diagonals
| rectangular in frame
|
| often acute-angled
| parallel
|
| working against the edges of image
| fixed within edges of image
|
| primitive
| civilized
|
- (Kaes et al, 1994)
The New Objectivity is similar to neoclassicism, and compared to expressionism, is realism. Painters include George Grosz and Otto Dix, and also Max Beckmann. Composer Paul Hindemith may be considered both a New Objectivist and an expressionist, depending on the composition, throughout the 1920s.
External link
Source
- Kaes et al., eds (1994). The Weimar Republic Sourcebook, p.493. Berkeley: University of California Press. Cited in:
- Albright, Daniel (2004). Modernism and Music: An Anthology of Sources. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226012670.