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Subjectivity in German Realism and Expressionism
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This essay discusses how the realist painter Adolph Menzel and the expressionist director Arthur Robison treat the theme of subjectivity.
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12122 History of the Western Arts
Dr Dennis Kersten
Interdisciplinary Essay
Word count: 1511
Subjectivity through the arts;
A German perspective on Realism and Expressionism
The art of a particular era and art movement is a reflection of the Zeitgeist of its artists. One
way in which we can classify different periods is by characterizing the relationship between
subjectivity and art and which events led to these relations. New industrial technologies, the
first World War, and new philosophical theories are just a few examples of events and ideas
with significant influence on society and therefore the attitudes of artists themselves. The
following text is therefore going to discuss the matter of subjectivity and how it is treated in
the period of Realism and Expressionism. For this purpose, the painting 'Eisenwalzwerk'
(1875), by the German artist Adolph Menzel, and the German silent film ‘Warning Shadows’
(1923), by German director Arthur Robinson, are going to be analysed and compared. The
focus on purely German Realism and Expressionism is due to the purpose of comparability.
In order to analysed these two art pieces, the term subjectivity must first be defined and the
historical contexts of realism and expressionism established. In this regard, the
seventeencentury philosopher René Descartes simply distinguishes between “objectivity,” the
perspective of impartial “truth,” and “subjectivity,” the limited perspective of the individual.
In doing so he particularly addresses the danger of errors, since one's own perspective is
always biased and incomplete, but therefore also human (Hall 3). The movement of Realism
emerged in the mid-19th century in France and soon found its way to Germany and the USA.
It is rooted in the beliefs of the Enlightenment that connect science and progress, which was
reinforced by the advancement of new industrial technologies. Especially in Germany, the
period between the 1830s and 1873 is considered a phase of industrial flourishing (Menzel et
al. 286). As a result empiricism, the search for knowledge based on observation and direct
experience, and positivism, the philosophical belief that promoted science as the mind's
highest achievement, became more popular amongst the general public. Accordingly, realist
artist put their focus on the contemporary world around them, which they could directly
observe (Kleiner 822). Expressionism, on the other hand, emerged in the twentieth century
and contrasts with the art focused on the empirical world and thus reacted against realism
(Kleiner 891). Especially in the German film industry, expressionism established itself as a
, 2
major internationally recognized stylistic movement that expresses an inner emotional reality
rather than surface appearances (Thompson and Bordwell 101). This is due to the conditions
after the First World War, including hyperinflation, isolation from foreign media and deeply
troubled relationships with the countries that had won the war, and the influence of
psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud, which discussed the unconscious and inner world of the
human mind (Sharp 94). Therefore, expressionist films often dealt with internal madness,
insanity, betrayal, and other issues triggered by the experiences of World War I (Thompson
and Bordwell 104).
Figure 1 Adolph Menzel, ‘Eisenwalzwerk’, 1872-1875
Adolph Menzel’s painting depicts a group scene in an industrial setting. Numerous workers
are shown engaged in hard factory labour and gather around an open fireside of an oven in a
factory. Menzel positioned a group of about six men, who are lifting red-hot iron with the
help of large tongs into the roller, in the centre of the composition. On the other side, another
group of men takes in the processed metal. The way the characters are presented, their
positions and their tense muscles express their hard work. On the right we see a group of
people taking a break from work. However, most characters focus on their activities and the
viewer's gaze cannot focus on a single thing due to the dynamics (see Figure 1). Adolph
Menzel was interested in the motif of the working man and began with numerous sketches
made through observing actual factory workers in one of the most significant rail rolling
mills in Königshütte (Upper Silesia), which eventually led to the painting
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