Expressionist works are typically characterized by bold colors; heavy, repetitive brushstrokes; distorted figures and facial expressions; and, especially in the case of the German school, primitivism and influence from Japanese art.

The exhibition not only allows viewers to compare the Czech artists with one another, but with their much better-known German peers, most notably artists from the groups Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter. When one thinks of Expressionism, one cannot help but conjure images from the German movement: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's bold, angular brushstrokes or Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's gutsy use of color.

Stylistically, the Czechs and Germans in this show are quite different, with a wider range of styles practiced by the Czech and Slovak artists — some of whom might not typically be grouped under the umbrella of Expressionism, but, once placed there by the curators, seem completely at home.

Take, for example, the very deliberate, very original style of Eugen von Kahler, whose work posits a clear sense of fear that threatens to engulf the viewer. Often working with little color, von Kahler evokes this fear by focusing on details of line and facial expression, as well as the classic Expressionist technique of distortion of natural form. Pieces such as Apocalyptic Scene, depicting a dog/cat beast with an elongated neck menacing a crowd of cowering human figures, or the demonic Man With a Cat, in which men appear hypnotized into a stupor by a devilish cat-beast that they wittingly follow, succeed in their Expressionist aims: They evoke intense feelings of fear, foreboding and trepidation in a single glance.

Other artists seem to have tried so hard to evoke these feelings that the attempt is painfully obvious without evoking the desired emotions. A vein of work by Karel Myslbek, while technically strong and aesthetically pleasing, falls short in this respect. Perhaps it is because the titles — Misfortune, Blind Beggar, The Sick Man, to name a few — beat viewers over the head with a sympathy stick rather than evoking feelings through the artist's visual expression.

Similarly, Antonín Slavíček's Study for a Funeral in Kamenicky provides only a slight aura of emotion, perhaps elicited in part by the work's title. Again, the tactic of telling the viewer what to feel with descriptive titles ultimately creates a sense of being emotionally manipulated. A small oil painting by Max Pirner titled Death, showing the Grim Reaper sharpening his scythe, presumably for his next victim, speaks for itself without its almost unnecessary title.

Despite the various styles practiced by this cornucopia of artists, a number of common themes emerge: apocalypse, blindness, a search for meaning and/or spirituality, human energy, demons, dreams and the plight of the suffering artist. Whether it is Josef Váchal, one of the standouts of the show, painting a séance in vivid colors, or Quido Kocian sculpting the jagged curves and jutting bones of a penniless artist, the majority of these artists appear to be striving through creation to resolve questions posed by Arthur Schopenhauer, one of their great inspirations. Schopenhauer claimed that one of the two ways to overcome suffering brought on by fear and desire was through art (the other was by living an ascetic life).

Aiming to observe and express human suffering rather than to wallow in it and become possessed by it, these artists produced Expressionist works that are more than mere relics of the process of creation. They are relics of a metaphysical quest, the best of them rising to convey universal meaning.