Expressionism
Expressionism grew in early twentieth-century Germany and Austria, where painters distorted forms and intensified color to convey emotional experience.
Painting Movement
New Objectivity
New Objectivity developed in 1920s Germany as painters turned to unsentimental portraits and sharp observations of life during the Weimar Republic.
New Objectivity quick facts
Its painters combined precise observation with psychological tension, often portraying a society shaped by war, inequality, and political upheaval.
| Origin | Germany during the Weimar Republic |
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| Approximate period | 1920s–early 1930s |
| Classification | A retrospective grouping of Weimar-era German painters in several cities, not a formal school. |
| Historical context | The social consequences of World War I and the upheavals of Weimar Germany informed the movement's critical outlook. Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub’s 1925 Mannheim exhibition, Neue Sachlichkeit, gave the movement its name. |
| Common subjects | Portraits, city life, veterans, social tensions, nightlife, and Weimar-era professions |
| Defining characteristics | Sharp, unsentimental observation and detailed figuration range from grotesque social satire to cool, classically composed portraits. |
| Paint types | Oil paint and egg tempera are documented in Dix's portraits and paintings. |
| Painting surfaces | Wood panels for Dr. Mayer-Hermann and Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden; plywood for Portrait of the Lawyer Hugo Simons. |
| Painting methods | Artists used precise drawing, smooth paint handling, and close detail, with methods ranging from exact realism to deliberate distortion. |
| Famous painters | Otto Dix, George Grosz, Max Beckmann, and Christian Schad |
| Representative works | Dix's Portrait of the Lawyer Hugo Simons (1925), Dr. Mayer-Hermann (1926), and Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden (1926) |
Sources: MoMA: New Objectivity, MoMA: German Expressionism and New Objectivity, and The Met: German Drawings and Prints from the Weimar Republic, MoMA: Dr. Mayer-Hermann, Centre Pompidou: Sylvia von Harden, and Goethe-Institut: Dix's egg-tempera painting.
Paint types in New Objectivity
New Objectivity painters combined oil and tempera in portraits of Weimar-era figures, sometimes layering egg tempera beneath translucent oil glazes.
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Oil paint
Dix's Dr. Mayer-Hermann (1926) combines oil, tempera, and metal leaf on wood, placing a prominent throat specialist among medical instruments. His Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden (1926), oil and tempera on wood, uses the same precise approach for a figure associated with Weimar Berlin's changing social life. Neither museum record identifies the tempera binder as egg.
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Egg tempera
For Portrait of the Lawyer Hugo Simons (1925), Dix painted in egg tempera on plywood and covered it with translucent oil glazes. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts explicitly identifies the egg binder in this painting, linking his closely observed portrait technique to older Northern European methods.
Sources: MoMA: Dix's Dr. Mayer-Hermann, Centre Pompidou: Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden, and Goethe-Institut: egg tempera in Portrait of the Lawyer Hugo Simons.
Famous painters from New Objectivity
Dix examined war and German society with unsettling precision, Grosz used cutting satire, and Beckmann painted psychologically intense portraits.
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Otto Dix
Dix's Dr. Mayer-Hermann renders a physician with cool precision, while other works confront the injuries and social scars left by World War I. His New Objectivity portraits replace Expressionist distortion with unsparing detail and a deliberately detached surface.
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George Grosz
Grosz used caricature, sharp outlines, and crowded urban scenes to expose corruption and class inequality in Weimar Germany. His New Objectivity drawings and paintings make social satire central, presenting public figures and street life without the heroic polish of academic art.
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Max Beckmann
Beckmann's self-portraits and crowded scenes use firm contours and compressed space to make modern life feel psychologically charged. His association with New Objectivity reflects a return to recognizable figures after Expressionism, though his symbolism and personal imagery remained highly individual.
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Christian Schad
Schad's Sonja presents a sharply observed portrait with smooth surfaces and an emotionally distant gaze. The cool precision of his New Objectivity painting makes clothing, skin, and posture feel exact, while withholding the warmth of a conventional sympathetic likeness.
Sources: MoMA: New Objectivity, selected works; MoMA: Dr. Mayer-Hermann; MoMA: New Objectivity in German art.
Related painting movements
New Objectivity countered Expressionist distortion with precise, matter-of-fact painting that often carried sharp social and political criticism.
Realism
Realism emerged in nineteenth-century France, depicting ordinary people, rural labor, and contemporary life without idealization or heroic subjects.
Ashcan School
The Ashcan School was an American art movement known for unsentimental depictions of everyday city life, especially in early twentieth-century New York.