In the second half of the 19th century, the term
expressionism
was applied by critics to a diverse group of painters. In the broadest sense, the term referred to any work of art in which the artist's emotional feelings about his subject matter formed the essence of the work. This was broad enough to include the paintings of Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, and Paul Gauguin.
In its narrower sense, expressionism referred to a more specific group of painters who...