Expressionism was a modernist movement originating in Germany in the early 1900s that focused on depicting subjective emotions and shapes rather than objective reality through distorted use of color and form. Expressionist artists aimed to express inner experiences rather than depict external reality, taking the word from the German "expressionismus" which refers to self-expression or expression of inner experiences. Some famous expressionist artists include Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Emil Nolde.