German Expressionism

German Expressionism prioritised inner emotions over realism, featuring simplified shapes, vivid colours, and expressive brushwork.

Driven by a profound interest in the interplay between art and society, German Expressionism spanned various disciplines, including painting, architecture, and film. Prominent German Expressionist artworks include Franz Marc's "Blue Horse I" (1911), Wassily Kandinsky's "The Blue Rider" (1903), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's "Seated Girls" (1910) and "Self-Portrait as a Soldier" (1915), along with the early works of Paul Klee, affiliated with Der Blaue Reiter, and their association with several other 20th-century movements.

These Expressionists shared a common focus on depicting inner worlds, emotions, psychology, and spirituality, marked by spontaneous and vivid use of colour and brushwork to convey their intuitive messages.

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Parra's studio, with Parra at the centre, his back to the camera as he works on the large painting takes centre stage, showing a faceless blue woman in a striped dress, painted in red, purple, blue and teal. The studio is full of brightly coloured paints, with a large window on the right and a patterned rug across the floor under the painting.