Expressionism theory was theorized by an essentialist John Dewey in 19xx, he believed that he identified the essence of art. This essence is an inner feeling or emotion which it is expressed externally in the physical expression of an art whether in a painting, sound waves, or moving bodies in dance (Van Camp, 1998).
Other theorists tried to change the expressionism theory to prove that the work itself is symbolically an expression of a particular feeling or emotion regardless of what the artist may or may not have been feeling. For an instance, if the music expresses “sadness” it means that the work is “metaphorically sad” even if the composer was not unhappy. This approach puts more emphasis on the relationship between the art is self and the viewer, the observer experiences the sadness in the work, regardless of what the artist was feeling (Van Camp, 1998).
On the positive side, expressionism shows the importance of the element of the art that valued by many artists and art lovers. Artists often speak of what they are expressing, while art lovers they critic and observe an artwork, they usually express of what they think the artist is trying to express in an art. Therefore, the consistency of this theory is much of an actual talk about the art and clarify a part of what it is understand in art. Observe that the understanding of art emphasizes the relationship between the artist and the art object (Van Camp, 1998).