# Expressionist Woodcut Graphics

> The graphic arm of German Expressionism, from Die Brücke in Dresden (1905) to the Berlin journals Der Sturm and Die Aktion and Frans Masereel's woodcut novels. Artists revived the woodcut as a raw, subjective medium: they gouged distorted figures and jagged lettering into the same block and printed them in harsh black or a single flat ink, often on coloured paper, for exhibition posters, portfolios, manifestos and magazine covers.

- Period: 1905–1925
- Where: Central Europe, Western Europe
- Origin: Dresden and Berlin (Die Brücke), Berlin (Der Sturm, Die Aktion), Munich (Der Blaue Reiter) and Vienna (Kokoschka); Frans Masereel in Geneva and Paris
- Branch: Avant-garde
- Also known as: German Expressionist print, Brücke graphics, Sturm & Aktion style
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/expressionist-graphics/

## How it works

- Cut image and lettering into the same block, so the letters share the gouge's splintered, angular edge.
- Model form with raw black masses and white gouge strokes, and leave chisel marks and wood grain visible.
- Distort and elongate figures, faces and landscapes to express inner feeling rather than describe appearance.
- Print a single flat ink, often on coloured or rough paper (red on green, black on ochre), instead of full colour.
- Push figures against the edges of the block on tilted axes so the sheet feels charged and unstable.
- On journals, run a heavy masthead over a full-page woodcut; in books, tell the story as a wordless sequence of prints.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Diagonal axis](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagonal-axis/) (characteristic)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (defining)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (characteristic)
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (occasional)
- [Sequential narrative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/sequential-narrative/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Experimental & distorted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/experimental-and-distorted/) (characteristic)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Blackletter](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/blackletter/) (occasional)
- [Grotesque & neo-grotesque](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grotesque-and-neo-grotesque/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (defining)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)
- [Complementary clash](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/complementary-clash/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (defining)
- [Angular & zigzag](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/angular-and-zigzag/) (defining)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)
- [Non-representational](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/non-representational/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Carved line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/carved-line/) (defining)
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (defining)

### Medium & production
- [Woodblock & linocut](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/woodblock-and-linocut/) (defining)
- [Lithography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lithography/) (characteristic)
- [Letterpress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/letterpress/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (defining)
- [Romantic & sensual](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/romantic-and-sensual/) (characteristic)
- [Spiritual & sacred](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/spiritual-and-sacred/) (occasional)
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (occasional)

Avoids: Floral & vegetal, Abundant decoration, Whiplash line, Naturalistic depiction, Gradients, Pastel, Gloss & highlights, Straight photography, Modular grid

Palette: #151311, #ede4cf, #c8432b, #6e8b57, #d9932f, #2c4a8c

Typefaces: Hand-cut woodcut capitals (Kirchner's Brücke lettering), Rudolf Koch's Neuland (Klingspor, 1923), a display face in the same hand-cut spirit, Heavy grotesque and Fraktur journal mastheads

Known for: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Programm der Künstlergruppe Brücke (1906, woodcut manifesto); Erich Heckel, Die Brücke exhibition poster for the Kunstsalon Emil Richter, Dresden (1908, woodcut in red on green paper; Detroit Institute of Arts); Max Pechstein, poster for the Brücke exhibition at the Emil Richter gallery (1909, woodcut; Harvard Art Museums); Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, 'Brücke 1909' title woodcut for the group's fourth annual portfolio (LACMA); Oskar Kokoschka, Der Sturm poster (1910, lithograph; Leopold Museum, Vienna); Wassily Kandinsky, woodcut cover of the Der Blaue Reiter almanac (1912); Die Aktion (ed. Franz Pfemfert, Berlin, 1911–32), woodcut covers; Frans Masereel, Mon livre d'heures (Passionate Journey, 1919), woodcut novel

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Art Nouveau](https://stylogeny.com/styles/art-nouveau.md) (1890–1910)
- Influenced by: [Japonisme](https://stylogeny.com/styles/japonisme.md) (1860–1910)
- Influenced by: [Vienna Secession](https://stylogeny.com/styles/vienna-secession.md) (1897–1918)
- Led to: [Chinese Modern Woodcut Movement](https://stylogeny.com/styles/chinese-modern-woodcut.md) (1931–1949)
- Alike in its design choices: [Estridentismo (Stridentist) Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/estridentismo-graphics.md) (1921–1927), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Taller de Gráfica Popular](https://stylogeny.com/styles/taller-grafica-popular.md) (1937–1977), 67% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Literatura de Cordel Woodcut](https://stylogeny.com/styles/cordel-woodcut.md) (1940–present), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Russian Futurist Book](https://stylogeny.com/styles/russian-futurist-book.md) (1910–1920), 63% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Gráfica del 68 (Mexican Student Movement Graphics)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/grafica-68-mexico.md) (1968), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Vorticism & BLAST Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/vorticism.md) (1914–1920), 56% alike

## Real works

- [KG Brücke (exhibition poster for the Galerie Arnold, Dresden)](https://sammlungenonline.albertina.at/objects/147724): Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (printed by the Gärtnersche Druckerei), 1910, Albertina, Vienna (DG2003/2048)
- [Das Vater Unser (portfolio cover with title woodcut)](https://onlinecollections.syr.edu/objects/21420/vater-unser): Max Pechstein (Propyläen-Verlag, Berlin), 1921, Syracuse University Art Museum (1975.012)
- [Die Aktion, IX. Jahrgang, Nr. 45/46 (15 November 1919), cover with the woodcut 'Die Revolution'](https://www.moma.org/collection/works/144481): Herbert Anger (woodcut); Franz Pfemfert (editor and publisher), 15 November 1919, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (as credited on Wikimedia Commons; image via Commons)
- [Der Blaue Reiter (almanac), 2nd edition, front cover](https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kandinsky1914): Wassily Kandinsky (cover woodcut); Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc (editors); R. Piper & Co., Munich, 1914 (first edition 1912), Heidelberg University Library (64 C 53 RES)
- [Der Sturm (poster advertising a new issue)](https://onlinecollection.leopoldmuseum.org/en/object/29968-poster-der-sturm/): Oskar Kokoschka (printed by Kunstanstalt Arnold Weylandt, Berlin), 1910, Leopold Museum, Vienna (Inv. 5972)

## Sources

- Detroit Institute of Arts, Erich Heckel, Die Brücke exhibition poster, 1908 (https://dia.org/collection/die-brucke-exhibition-poster-47696)
- LACMA, Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Die Brücke IV, 1909 (M.82.288.368a-d)
- Leopold Museum, Oskar Kokoschka, Poster Der Sturm, 1910 (https://onlinecollection.leopoldmuseum.org/en/object/29968-poster-der-sturm/)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Expressionist Woodcut Graphics”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/expressionist-graphics/