Danielle+Owens

 The artist need not know very much; best of all let him work instinctively and paint as naturally as he breathes or walks. ~Emil Nolde Looking at the impressive quality and variety of Emil Nolde's work, it's surprising he is not more well known. Born in August 1867 in northern Germany, his career spanned over five decades before he died in April of 1956. Although his watercolors and woodcuts are prized, he is most known for his contributions to [|Expressionism]. One of the hallmarks of Nolde's style is his use of paint to create volume as opposed to using line (Benson 25).

Nolde's simple, religious upbringing in rural Germany permeates his work and he later wrote that "large cities suck the marrow from one's bones" (Benson 25). He expressed early interest and talent in drawing and used his everyday farm surroundings as subjects. At 17 he accepted a woodcarving apprenticeship and spent much of the next 16 years doing similar work throughout Europe in Munich, Berlin, Copenhagen and Paris. He continued to draw and paint in his spare time and up until 1904 his work was the result of his self-teaching.

Much of Nolde's career was shaped by rejection. One of these moments occured when he was denied entrance into the studio of Franz von Stuck at the Munich Academy- where he was sure to have met [|Kandinsky], [|Paul Klee] , and [|Franz Marc] (Bradley 41). This lead him to discover Die Brücke, the early Expressionist movement in Germany. Another pivotal moment came during the rise of the Nazi regime. Adolf Hitler despised modernist art, calling it "degenerate" and despite the fact Nolde was a supporter of the Nazi Party his work was removed from German museums and displayed in a Degenerate Art exhibition in 1937. Nolde was forbidden from painting in 1941, after which he kept hidden a beautiful series of "unpainted" watercolors. In 1947, Nolde was reinstated and celebrated with a grand exhibition. He continuted oil painting until 1951, and watercolor painting until 1955. Nolde died in Seebüll, Germany at the age of 88.



In the early 1900's there was much debate surrounding tribal artifacts and their place in modern science: to most, these aritfacts were merely curiosities. In 1910 Nolde visited the Folkwang Museum, which was among the first museums to display non-European and European art together, believing that "the non-European artifacts were presented as an example to guide modern production in the decorative arts" (Lloyd). Gaining inspiration from the natural and spontaneous creation of tribal art, Emil Nolde created a series of still life paintings. This painting is a semi-abstraction comprised of masks Nolde had sketched from several different displays.

One of the key ideas behind expressionism is that it is highly gestural; even in a low quality image thick, rough, loose brush strokes are visible. A large part of Nolde's artistic belief was to just let creation naturally flow from the artist and it can be seen in the exaggerated manner of the painting. There is no real use of perspective as the space is flat. Where the masks overlap, one simply ends and another begins with no shade or shadow to add volume. Also, we can see the masks are hanging with nothing anchoring them. The background is ambiguous because there are some darker values visible only under the hanging masks but no plastic space.

Both the thick, rough lines and rich color combinations give alot of texture to the surface. Those rough, gestural shapes also contribute to the uncivilized feelings the masks evoke. There are subtle shadows and highlights around the facial features but instead of making the masks more realistic, they exaggerate the features. Gaping eyes and mouths reveal the blue-green background and only add to the grotesque feeling. Nolde's contrasting color choices are bold and intense which only add to the primal feeling of the painting.

The way the masks are organized on the canvas gives a feeling that Nolde composed his own museum display (Lloyd). Seeing the holes and strings in the tops of the hanging masks gives a great sense of movement because you can almost see them slightly swaying. The focus of the painting is the orange-yellow face with big ears because it is the most forward and draws the viewers eye first. Although there is no face in the bottom left-hand corner of the canvas, the masks are evenly balanced over the picture plane and draw your eye all around.

We know from the museum exhibitions and Nolde's sketches that these masks were from primitave cultures. Thinking about what I know of those cultures I think of primitave, simple living and giving oneself over to animalistic instincts. Masks like this would be worn in rituals, to frighten away evil or evoke fear in others. Those ancient societies used masks in the opposite way our culture does today: the goal is to keep those primitive instincts behind a composed facade. Nolde was self-taught and believed not in artistic guidelines but in simply creating from the emotion and feeling inside the artist. I think part of the message behind this painting is an appeal to the viewer to not allow yourself to be confined by the norm and give yourself over to the creative instincts we work so hard to supress. Society sees individuality as a "curiosity."

An individualist, Emil Nolde contributed greatly to the world of art. His study of architecture and woodwork led to his mastery of etching and woodcuts. Barry Herbert (23) describes how as Nolde developed his skills in oil paint, he became very fond of impressionism and those elements a step further greatly advancing the expressionist movement. While he was still a relatively unknown artist, he was invited to join the newly formed Die Brücke group because they were so affected by his vision (Herbert 21). He taught them to embrace bold hues and use them to evoke emotion and spirituality. Whether his medium was wood, ink, oil or watercolor, Nolde manipulated each medium to maximize volume and feeling. My Intrepretation of the style of Emil Nolde

__Sources__ Benson, E. M. "Emil Nolde." //Parnassus//__​__ 5:1 (Jan, 1933): 12-14 +25. //Jstor.// Web. 11 Feb. 10.

Bradley, William S. //Emil Nolde and German Expressionism: A Prophet in His Own Land.// Michigan: UMI Research Press, 1981. Print.

Herbert, Barry. //German Epressionism: Die Brucke and Der Blaue Reiter//. London:Hippocrene Books, Inc., 1983. Print.

Lloyd, Jill. "Emil Nolde's Drawings from the Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin, and the 'Maskenstilleben 1-4,' 1911." //The Burlington Magazine// 127:987 (Jun, 1985): 381-385. //Jstor.// Web. 11 Feb. 2010.