Expressionism
A primarily German and Central European art movement of the early 20th century that distorted reality for emotional effect, using intense color, exaggerated form, and raw psychological energy.
Expressionism emerged in Germany around 1905-1910 with groups like Die Brucke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), though its roots go deeper -- van Gogh's psychologically charged color and Munch's 'The Scream' (1893) are often cited as proto-Expressionist precursors.
Expressionist artists were not interested in depicting the world as it appeared but as it felt -- emotionally, psychologically, spiritually. They distorted perspective and proportion, used unnaturally vivid or jarring color, and employed rough, urgent brushwork that made the act of painting itself emotionally legible.
Wassily Kandinsky's early work falls within Expressionism before his turn to pure abstraction. Der Blaue Reiter, which he co-founded with Franz Marc, sought to use color and form to express spiritual realities beyond the visible world.