Expressionism: Bahr and Hal Foster’s Articles Essay

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Expressionism was an idea that started in the 20th Century. It was mainly found in poetry and painting to bring the idea of liveliness and bring out emotions instead of physical resemblance. The works of Bahr and Hal Foster as art critics both share some similarities and differences.

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Both Bahr and Hal Foster touch on the topic of spiritualism. Bahr borrows ideas from Worringer. He uses the concept of empathy. He explains that any specific work of art is ideally generated from our own beauty. He further explains that it is not a must for any work of art to portray any beautiful and conspicuous style may be due to the inability to do so but to show the spiritual importance of the work of art.

To bring this spiritual taste, one should include abstract nature that is similar to that of the ancient Greek. This demonstrates confidence, belief in spirituality that is characterized with the ancient Egyptian masterpieces. Spiritualism of this kind shows a paramount demonstration of uncertainty with materialism. One of Worringer’s thesis works titled Abstraction and Empathy: Essays in the Psychology of Style, greatly explains Bahr’s idea of spiritualism that it is common in justifying primitive art, gothic art, and architecture. The need for abstract forms that yield anxiety that is evident in any work of art. This expressionism theme helped many scholars to study and critic African and South Seas Art which carry vivid examples of spiritualism in their natural form. (Harrison 116)

Similarly, Hal Foster shares his idea of spiritualism in a very interesting way. He presents the theme using artists like Picasso. He calls the spiritual aspect Prosthetic Gods. In his argument, he uses fiction and brings out the aspect of primitivism and the Machinist image of Marinetti. He uses some of the aesthetic models of Klee incorporating the female body, thus feminism, and cleverly brings out the idea of rejecting creativity in art, similar to Bahr’s, and focuses on the lost aspects in art.( Hal 59)

Hal Foster explains his idea of spiritualism from two perspectives. He uses Prosthetic Gods and A Bashed Ego in an essay titled Compulsive Beauty. While describing, he brings out the idea predominant in the 20th century, which sometimes he used to assign to Regan – Bush era in neo-expressionism arguments. This idea is male subjectivity and death instinct. He uses the psychoanalytic theory of comparison. He manipulates the female body and male to ascertain his idea of spiritualism. Similar to Bahr’s idea of emphasis on beauty, we see the abstract nature in a work of art. Foster uses beauty in a context similar to Bahr’s and agrees on the importance of Spiritualism in a work of art.

Although they both agree on the theme of spiritualism, there are some aspects that are clear thus bringing a contrast in the way each critics art. For example, Bahr distinguishes the theme of abstraction and naturalism to bring the idea of Spiritualism in a different way Hal Foster does in his fiction essays. He views empathy as an emotion that renders one to agree with creation which was evident in ancient Greek and during the early and later renaissance period in Europe.

During the 20th century, classical art was dominant and none resembled any primitive art of South Seas and African. He referred to this art as “immense spiritual dread of space.”(Harrison 117)

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Primitive art explains the two-dimensional abstraction. He gives an example of a snake coiled becoming an ornamental element in showing. He avoids the necessity of geometry in art. Thus he later compares the lives of the Scandinavian and Slavic people as attribution to inner disharmony and cloudy mysticism. This evidently brings out the idea of no need for geometry that was similar to Asia and ancient Greek.

Here we evidently see no mention of modern artists in bringing out the idea of spiritualism. Whereas Hal Foster uses heavily modern artists like Picasso and Keel to explain the idea of Prosthetic Gods. Hal Foster uses the primitive rhetoric theme of the early 20th century unlike that of the ancient Greek to explain his theme of Spiritualism. He uses Marinetti and Lewes’ machinist theory incorporating reflections on psychotic arts from galleries in Europe.

He borrows the concept of Freudian on death instinct to show antisocial and dehumanizing situations. A modernization, that gives an impression of warfare. This shows the disbelief of modern experience evident in masculine and feminine forms.

Both Bahr using Worringer’s views and Hal Foster give a very interesting approach to spiritualism that is evident in art. It’s important to note the similarity in themes and the different approaches in describing the theme.

Works Cited

Harrison, Charles, and Wood, Paul.eds. ‘Extract from Expressionism”. Art in Theory: An Anthology of Changing Ideas 1900-2000.(2003).116-121.Print.

Foster, H.‘Extract from the Expressive Fallacy’. Recordings: Art, Spectacle, Cultural Politics. Washington: Port Townsend. (1984) 59-64. Print.

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IvyPanda. 2021. "Expressionism: Bahr and Hal Foster's Articles." December 31, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/expressionism-bahr-and-hal-fosters-articles/.

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IvyPanda. "Expressionism: Bahr and Hal Foster's Articles." December 31, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/expressionism-bahr-and-hal-fosters-articles/.

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