Our group was given the 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich' by Leo Tolstoy. The whole project is based around 'Psychological Terror', and the aim is to construct sets that reflect the 'disturbances in the emotional field'. In the brief it tell us that the style of the rooms for 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich' are to be Baroque and Expressionism. But what is Baroque and Expressionism ?

Baroque in Art

The word "baroque" was first applied to the art of period from the late 1500s to the late 1700s, by critics in the late nineteen century.It emerged in Europe around 1600, as a reaction against the Mannerist style that dominated the Late Renaissance Baroque covers a wide range of styles and artists.Baroque was primarily associated with the religious tensions within Western Christianity. This movement was encouraged by the Catholic Church as a return to tradition and spirituality. A sense of movement, energy, and tension are dominant impressions. Strong contrasts of light and shadow often enhance dramatic effects.This was the age of Rubens, Rembrandt, Velázquez and Vermeer. In the 18th century, Baroque Art was replaced by the more elegant and elaborate Rococo style which is more fitting to the era that the story is set to. The Painting below is by one of the most famous Italian Baroque painters Annibale Carracci. And an example of the Religion, the light and the shadows.

Annibale Carracci 1602 Domine, Quo Vadis ( Oil on canvas)

Expressionism

Expressionism was a modernist movement initially in poetry and painting in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or idea all though this is not relevant to the 19th century era it helps us to identify the moods evoked by Ivans mentality the best way to describe this movement is by showing the paintings.
The painting below is Scream by Edvard Munch and is one of my favourite paintings as simple brush strokes and warm colours of the sunset with a contrast of blue, grey and black foreground have such a terrifying reaction by using shadows in an unusual un conformed way.