Emerging in the early 1900s, Expressionism and Fauvism placed emotion and color above realism, redefining how feeling could be seen. Artists like Matisse, Kirchner, and Kandinsky used bold palettes and raw, gestural forms to capture the intensity of inner life rather than the appearance of the external world. Unrestrained and deeply human, these movements celebrated instinct, imagination, and the power of color to speak where words could not.