who were seen as a more noble, authentic "race" of Europeans a distinction that would

haunt the German populace into the Hitler regime, when it was more fully exploited.

Another goal of the Primitivist movement is the drive to re-connect with "nature," a goal

whose simplicity we would now problematize. Again, savage peoples, children, and the

insane were seen to be the closest to nature, so their art serves as a model for Primitivists.

 The techniques used by Primitivist artists serve to further 'overturn the applecart'

by "questioning the received wisdom of Western culture" and "making the familiar

strange" (Coates 75). In contrast to other artists, the Primitivists try to make use of the

style of the art used by primitive peoples rather than bringing their own style in to paint

exotic scenes. This process results in an undermining of the usual representative codes

and new, effective art. The artists succeed in undermining standard codes by walking the

line between what was then considered a division of content and style. One offshoot of

Primitivism that stresses style more heavily than content is Expressionism, a movement

that concentrates most heavily on emotion as the key to the soul.

 Expressionism is a highly contested style. Some would have us believe that it is a

 well-defined, easily recognized one. Others disagree. Georg Lukacs described the

 problem as follows, "... when it becomes imperative to specify whom we are to regard

 as the exemplary Expressionist writer, or even to include in the category of

 Expressionism, we find that opinions diverge so sharply that no single name can count on

 general agreement" (Reason 28). For purposes of coherency, this paper will construct a

 definition of the movement, starting from Ulrich Weisstein's description. He writes, ". ..

 most of the ... Expressionists would have agreed that they were primarily concerned with