emil nolde

Emil Nolde was a German painter and printmaker who was one of the first Expressionists, involved with "The Bridge" expressionist group and Kandinsky's Blue Riders. He grew up on a farm but then studied to be an illustrator/woodcarver. He supported the Nazi Party, although the regime labeled his art as "degenerate" and he was banned from making art.

Of his prints, he is most known for his lithographs and woodcuts, which are carved with an aggressive, expressive cut. The "Print" tome says Nolde collected tribal art, which influenced his raw carving style, mimicking "primitivism", and the expressive depiction of the female nudes was supposed to "give form to the triumphant creative will of the male avant-garde artist by equating it with a conquering virility" which pretty much sucks. 

Nolde's carving method is successful in creating an expressionist brushstroke, and the often visible woodgrain adds to the emotion depicted. He uses woodcutting/printmaking as a medium and uses visible "errors" such as not inking as much in certain areas, and embossing the paper deeply to vary the surface.