Boston Expressionism was a school of painting that originated in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1930s and flourished through the 1950s. Strongly influenced by German Expressionism and by the Jewish immigrant experience, it is marked by emotional directness, dark humor, social and spiritual themes, and a tendency toward figuration. The painters' technique was distinctive, employing bold color and expressive brushwork, and they often experimented with unusual media such as encaustic.