Robert Wiene, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Introduction
Expressionism is the artistic style in which the artist tries to depict objective reality in a manner that satisfies his emotions to represent objects around him. This is accomplished through distortion, exaggeration, primitivism and fantasy and through the clear illustration of violent or dynamic application of formal elements. It was one of the most common forms of art in 19th and 20th centuries. The main objective of expressionism is not to produce the impression produced by the surrounding world, but to show the artist’s view to the world’s representation. The image of this object thus represents a substitute to the visual aspects of the object.
This form of art was popular mostly in Germany in the 1910. Due to its wide use, it has also been assumed to inherit from some ancient forms of art, specifically, Cezanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh.
The major German expressionists were Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, Lionel Feininger, George Grosz and August Macke. This article tries to explain some of the expressionist ideas of the Weimar
Discussion
Degenerate art of Ernst Barlach
He generated a number of anti-war sculptures based on his experiences of the war. He was criticized for negatively depicting the Nazis during their rise. At this time, the Magdeburg cenotaph was required by the city of Magdeburg to serve as a memorial of World War I. It was expected to depict German soldiers fighting for their glorious country. In his depiction of this scene, Barlach created a sculpture containing three German soldiers: these were a new soldier, a middle aged officer and an old soldier. These people were represented standing in a cemetery showing signs of horror, pain and desperation in the war. On their side was a mourning woman with her face covered in despair. There was also a skeleton with a German helmet on its head and a civilian, who was Barlach himself with his eyes closed and ears blocked. As a result, controversy erupted among the war veterans who claimed that he did not give the correct impression of the true Germans who they claimed to be more heroic. Consequently, the sculpture was disposed. In an attempt to conserve this sculpture, Balarch’s friends hid the sculpture until the end of the war. It was then returned to the Magdeburg Cathedral. In the meantime, the Germans were highly in search of Barlach.
Due to the controversy...