A distinct style of printmaking emerged in Germany at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is arguably the most important German art since the Renaissance. While scholarship continues on the question of whether German Expressionism is a formal style, a nationalistic movement, or a pluralistic vision generated from individual experience, this exhibition explores the latter premise. Our selection of images takes into account Ernst Kirchner's desire that artists "express inner convictions... with sincerity and spontaneity." This exhibition includes the work of artists who were members of the Brücke (Erich Heckel, Ernst Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Max Pechstein, Emil Nolde, and Otto Mueller) and the Blaue Reiter (Wassily Kandinsky, Heinrich Campendonck, and Max Beckmann) as well as some others who have become associated with German Expressionism. The subjects explored by these artists were varied. Religious, moral, social, political, and artistic issues were confronted with an energy seldom seen in the art academies of the day. Even the media they used, woodcut, drypoint, lithography, and etching, were handled in a startlingly new manner. In the early decades of the 20th century, the German Expressionists experimented with various print media, particularly the woodcut, in startling new ways. Artists like Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rotluff carved wood blocks that released the psychological turmoil brought on by the first world war and its aftermath. Other artists including Otto Dix and Kathe Kollwitz through images depicting the avarice of industrialists or the ravages caused by World War I. Bold, aggressive, and innovative use of the media became the hallmark of the German Expressionist artist, and the impact they have had on modern art and artists is undeniable and remarkable. The Archer, Wassily Kandinsky, color woodcut, 1908, 6.5 x 6" Courtesy of Syracuse University Art Collection