Neo-Expressionism

So what i take from the Neo-Expressionism movement is that the artist is attempting the same thing as the German Expressionists, but instead of being mocked and ridiculed (as in the Degenerate Art Show) they are making quite a bit of money off of their work. I guess this just shows how the 1980's contrasted post world war I Germany. The economy was beginning to boom again after a major recession and the middle class was making the "good" art. Some similiarities i draw when i compare these two time periods are the fact that the US and parts of Europe were recovering from the Vietnam War and America was under the leadership of a more socialy restrictive administration (not comparing Regaen to Hitler).

I would have to say that my favorite artist from this period would be Carlo Maria Mariani and his "regression" to a classical picture making approach. I beleive he is one of the few artists from this movement that successfully took what the German Expressionists did and adapted it into a style that was true to himself. As the German Expressionists took everyday situations, people and observations and depicted them in an almost ugly and curious way (in comparison to their reality), Mariani does the opposite and takes these everyday situations, people and observations and turns them into something that is more beautiful than their reality.