Lovis Corinth  (German, 1858-1925) 

Lovis Corinth (German, 1858–1925) was a painter and printmaker associated with the Berlin Secession group of artists, and best known for portraits, landscapes, and genre scenes that display the qualities of Impressionist and Expressionist styles. In 1980, he began studying at the Münchener Kunstakademie with Ludwig von Löfftz (German, 1845–1910), who trained Corinth in academic Realism. He moved to Paris in 1884 to study at the Académie Julian, where he began painting female nudes in a non-idealized, realistic manner, different from the academic tradition. In his literary paintings, Corinth depicted religious, mythological, and historical subjects with exaggerated gestures that mocked academic seriousness. Inspired by the brushwork of Frans Hals the Elder (Dutch, 1580–1666) and Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669), Corinth painted a series of slaughterhouses, using light and thick pigment to give the carcasses a sensuality reminiscent of the nude. Corinth’s style gradually moved towards Expressionism as his palette became brighter, and his paint thicker. His self-portraits illustrate this transition; early portraits reflect his training in Academic Naturalism, while later work, such as Last Self-portrait(1925), breaks down naturalistic representation with uneven brushstrokes. Corinth also collaborated on theatrical productions, as a set and costume designer, and starting in the 1890s made engravings, lithographs, and watercolors as preparatory sketches or book illustrations. His work is currently held in museum collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.