Female Dancer

Female Dancer by Emil Nolde is a dramatic, intense print. Nolde was a prolific and experimental print maker artist. This is one of his most excited and dramatic works. You see a dancer dancing ecstatically. Nolde was interesting in modern dance and tribal arts of Africa, which are his influences to this work. He believed the tribal cultures were pure and authentic in contrast to the European culture, that for him were corrupted. Dancer was Nolde’s favorite of 13 lithographs he made. The artwork doesn’t have so many elements, but when you understand the message behind the artwork, you can see them all. He combines several of his key themes: the depiction of unbridled emotion, the freedom embodied by dance, the desires expressed by unfettered eroticism, and a fascination with the peoples and cultures beyond Europe’s borders.  

Here is a video of the art:

http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/audios/261/3034

More about Emil Nolde:

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/N/nolde.html

More about German Expressionism:

http://www.moma.org/explore/collection/ge/

Sources:

http://www.moma.org/collection_ge/object.php?object_id=92794

http://www.moma.org/explore/collection/ge/styles/other_expressionists#slide06