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Viennese Expressionism: from Sickness to Spirituality in the New Aesthetic Theory 1909-1913

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Viennese Expressionism: from Sickness to Spirituality in the New Aesthetic Theory 1909-1913 Viennese Expressionism: from sickness to spirituality in the New Aesthetic Theory 1909-1913 Emily Adamowicz Schulich School of Music McGill University, Montreal Q February 2007 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts (Theory) Library and Bibliothèque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-32495-0 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-32495-0 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, électronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page cou nt, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada Abstract Viennese Expressionism 1909-1913 encompasses parallel evolutions in the disciplines ofvisual arts and music. Ideas fromfin-de-siécle Vienna's intellectual milieu inspired the awakening of the Modem artist, from Ur-schrei to the formation of a new aesthetic theory. In this thesis, l examine the origin of iconic Expressionist aesthetic values and their technical expression in works by Arnold Schoenberg, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, and Wassily Kandinsky. Topics covered are divided into two broad thematic categories whose central tenets originate in preoccupations with, on the one hand, an emerging understanding of the unconscious and psychic pathology; and on the other hand, the metaphysical components to art and the human experience: sickness and spirituality. While it is not possible to compare directly art and musical works, common ideas and princip les provide conceptual intersections that unify the disciplines in the realization of a collective artistic vision. 11 Abrégé Le mouvement expressionniste viennois (1909-1913) recouvre des courants parallèles dans les disciplines picturales et musicales. Les idées provenant des milieux intellectuels du fin-de-siècle viennois ont inspiré le réveil de l'artiste moderne, depuis le Ur-schrei jusqu'à la formulation d'une nouvelle théorie esthétique. Ce mémoire examine l'origine des valeurs esthétiques chères au mouvement expressionniste, ainsi que les techniques utilisées pour exprimer ces valeurs dans les oeuvres d'Arnold Schoenberg, d'Egon Schiele, d'Oskar Kokoschka, et de Wassily Kandinsky. Les thèmes abordés sont divisés en deux grandes catégories dont les fondements centraux émanent de préoccupations reliées, d'une part, à une compréhension croissante de l'inconscient et de la psychopathologie, et, d'autre part, aux aspects métaphysiques de l'art et de l'existence humaine: la maladie et la spiritualité. Bien qu'il ne soit pas possible de comparer directement des oeuvres picturales et musicales, l'existence de principes et de thèmes communs entraîne une confluence conceptuelle qui unifie ces disciplines dans la réalisation d'une vision artistique collective. 111 Acknowledgments This thesis is tirst dedicated to my friend and mentor Carmen Sabourin whose encouragement and excitement for this work was invaluable when at times the project seemed daunting. Sharing a profound love of art and culture, Carmen has been a constant source of enthusiasm and a sounding board for ideas. Second, it is dedicated to my tireless supervisor Don McLean who, since our tirst meeting, has been unconditionally supportive. iv Table of Contents Introduction 1 1.0 The Ur-schrei: the Scream of the Expressionist Artist 7 1.1 Objective Empathy: the Product of Artistic Alienation 10 1.2 The Scream and the Whimper: Aesthetic Violence and Intimacy 12 1.3 Artist as Martyr: Self-sacrifice as a Means to Intersect with the Metaphysical 15 1.4 The Metaphysical Aspect of the Ur-schrei 20 1.5 The Ur-schrei, the Dramatic Scream, and Sprechstimme 22 2.0 Psychic Pathology in Expressionism 2.1 Dreams and Mental Illness 27 2.2 Freud and Erwartung's Libretto 28 2.3 Rational Structure in the Music of Erwartung 32 2.4 The Shadow-Archetype of the Collective Unconscious 39 2.5 Archetypal Thinking in Pierrot Lunaire 41 2.6 Portraiture as the Window into the Psyche 44 2.7 Kokoschka's Portraiture: Psychiatric and Physical Illness 46 2.8 Schiele's Portraiture: Exposing the Psyche of the Artist 48 2.9 Schoenberg's Portraiture: Channelling the Unconscious 54 3.0 Towards a New Aesthetic Theory 63 3.1 Kandinsky's 'Perception' and Schoenberg's 'Compulsion' 64 3.2 The Rejection ofOmament and Object 71 3.3 Re-Inventing the Compositional Process: Generating Structure in the Absence of Traditional Paradigms 74 3.4 'Impressions of Totality': Generating Coherence in Abstract Art and Post-Tonal Music Compositions 78 Conclusion 93 Bibliography 95 v List of Plates Plate 1. Edvard Munch. The Scream. 1893. 1 Plate 2. Egon Schiele. Self-Portrait (Screaming). 1910. 8 Plate 3. Egon Schiele. Grimacing Self-Portrait. 1910. 14 Plate 4. Oskar Kokoschka Self-Portrait for Der Sturm. 1911. 18 Plate 5. Egon Schiele. Self-Portrait as St. Sebastian. 1914. 19 Plate 6. Egon Schiele. Seated Male Nude. 1910. 50 Plate 7. Egon Schiele. Self-Portrait in Grey with Open Mouth. 1910. 52 Plate 8. Arnold Schoenberg. Red Gaze. 1910. 57 Plate 9. Arnold Schoenberg. Red Gaze. 1910. 59 Plate 10. Arnold Schoenberg. Self-Portrait. 1910. 61 Plate Il. Arnold Schoenberg. Self-Portrait (Vision). 1910. 62 Plate 12. Wassily Kandinsky. Sketch/or Impression III (Concert). 1911. 68 Plate 12. Wassily Kandinsky. Sketch/or Impression III (Concert). 1911. 69 Plate 13. Wassily Kandinsky. Impression III (Concert). 1911. 70 Plate 14. Wassily Kandinsky. Composition VII. 1913. 76 List of Musical Examples Ex. 1. Arnold Schoenberg. Erwartung, Op. 17. m. 160-165. 34 Ex. 2. Arnold Schoenberg. Erwartung, Op. 17. m. 166-168. 35 Ex. 3. Arnold Schoenberg. Erwartung, Op. 17. m. 169-172. 36 Ex. 4. Arnold Schoenberg. Erwartung, Op. 17. m. 173. 36 Ex. 5. Arnold Schoenberg. Erwartung, Op. 17. m. 174-192. 38 Ex. 6. Arnold Schoenberg. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 23. Passacaglia Theme 42 Ex. 7. Arnold Schoenberg. Das Buch Der Hangenden Garten, Op. 15, No. 8. m. 1-2. 85 Ex. 8. fundamental-set 86 Ex. 9. 'developing variations' graph 88 Ex. 10. 'developing variations' graph 90 vi Introduction This paper explores the evolution of Vienne se Expressionism 1909-1913 from the awakening of Modem artist to the formation of a new aesthetic theory, and its documentation in new compositional techniques employed in art and musical works. While it is not possible to compare directly art and musical works, nor compositional techniques used in different media, common ideas, principles, and aesthetic values provide conceptual intersections that unify the disciplines in a collective artistic vision. Employing a two-part methodology, 1 explore 1) how theories from the German philosophical tradition and the emerging discipline of psychoanalysis influenced and shaped Viennese Expressionism's iconic intellectual and aesthetic values; and 2) the 'technical realization' ofthese values as they evolved through a study of developments in compositional theories and procedures in both musical and artworks by Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), Egon Schiele (1890-1918), Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980), and Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944). This study is contingent upon source readings from Arthur Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Representation (1819),1 Carl Jung's The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious,2 Sigmund Freud's Interpretation ofDreams (1900),3 Wassily Kandinsky's On the Spiritual in Art (1912),4 as well as the correspondence and various other writings (aphorisms, etc.) Supplementing the source readings is an examination 1 Schopenhauer, Arther. The World as Will and Representation. trans. by E.J.J. Payne. Dover Publications: 1969. 2 Jung, Carl. "Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious." in Col/ected Works. trans. by R.F.C. Hull. Vol. 9. Part l, pars. 87-110. Princeton University Press: 1959. 3 Freud, Sigmund. Interpretation ofDreams, trans. Joyce Crick. Oxford University Press: 1999. 4 Kandinsky, Wassily. On the Spiritual in Art. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation: 1946. 1 of secondary critiques and interpretations of Expressionist aesthetic theory and compositional techniques by scholars such as Philip Friedheim, Reinhold Brinkman, Patrick Werkner, Claude Cernuschi, Magdelena Dabrowski, Klaus Kropfinger, and Severine Neff. 1 will couple critiques ofthese interpretations with my own observations on and interpretations ofworks to be discussed. Viennese Expressionism's aesthetic theory centres around two broad thematic categories whose fundamental tenets originate in outside conditions: 'sickness' and 'spirituality'. 'Sickness' refers to psychoanalysis' preoccupation with the recesses of the human psyche, and the correlation between physical and psychological illness.
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