Neo-expressionism was a style of modern painting that emerged in the late 1970s and dominated the art market until the mid-1980s. It developed as a reaction against the conceptual and minimalistic art of the 1970s. Neo-expressionists returned to portraying recognizable objects, such as the human body (although sometimes in a virtually abstract manner), in a rough and violently emotional way using vivid colours and banal colour harmonies. The popularity of the style, or partially even the style itself, was created by aggressive marketing and media promotion by the art dealers and galleries.

Neo-expressionism around the world

• Germany
  • Georg Baselitz (often considered the leading developer of the style)
  • Anselm Kiefer
  • Neo-expressionists were sometimes called neue wilden ('the new wild ones').
• USA
  • Julian Schnabel
  • David Salle
  • The style had many alternative names, such as new fauvism, punk art and bad painting, the latter one given by the critics of the style.
• Italy
  • Francesco Clemente
  • Sandro Chia
  • The style was sometimes called Transavantgarde (beyond avant-garde).