Expressionism

fine arts.

(usually lowercase) a manner of painting, drawing, sculpting, etc., in which forms derived from nature are distorted or exaggerated and colors are intensified for emotive or expressive purposes.
a style of art developed in the 20th century, characterized chiefly by heavy, often black lines that define forms, sharply contrasting, often vivid colors, and subjective or symbolic treatment of thematic material.
german expressionismus
[eks-pres-ee-oh-nis-moo s] /ɛksˌprɛs i oʊˈnɪs mʊs/ (show ipa). modern art, especially the experimental or nonacademic styles of contemporary art.

(often lowercase) theater. a style of playwriting and stage presentation stressing the emotional content of a play, the subjective reactions of the characters, symbolic or abstract representations of reality, and nonnaturalistic techniques of scenic design.
literature. a technique of distorting objects and events in order to represent them as they are perceived by a character in a literary work.
(usually lowercase) a phase in the development of early 20th-century music marked by the use of atonality and complex, unconventional rhythm, melody, and form, intended to express the composer’s psychological and emotional life.
contemporary examples

the committee later relented, declaring it a work of expressionism.
book a room at vietnam’s ‘crazy house’ nina strochlic july 10, 2013

it was his mix of expressionism and surrealism, however, that allowed freud a legacy of admiration rather than notoriety.
a new book gives a rare glimpse into the life of lucian freud erin cunningham october 21, 2013

noun
(sometimes capital) an artistic and literary movement originating in germany at the beginning of the 20th century, which sought to express emotions rather than to represent external reality: characterized by the use of symbolism and of exaggeration and distortion

an artistic style that departs from the conventions of realism and naturalism and seeks to convey inner experience by distorting rather than directly representing natural images. the highly personal visions communicated in the paintings of vincent van gogh are early examples of expressionism. edvard munch and georges rouault are considered expressionist painters.