Aspects of Lovis Corinth’s Painting Technique in His Late Work: Working Process and Colour Structure Captured in Paint and on Film

Abstract

This contribution presents an art-technological study of the late work of the German Impressionist Lovis Corinth. A painting, Walchensee, Landschaft mit Kuh (Lake Walchensee, landscape with cow), dated 1921 and a documentary film by Hans Cürlis, which captured the artist working on a small-scale oil study in 1922/23 are subject to comparative visual analysis. Selected brushstrokes are described as examples of Corinth’s complex paint application and mixing technique. The use of flat hogs’ hair brushes, dragging and varying the shape of the strokes, painting wet in wet or wet on wet, and an incomplete, ‘heterogenous’ colour mixing are important aspects of his technique. Based on findings a reconstruction of the painting process is attempted. The documentary used is part of a cinematogaphic work by Cürlis, usually known as Schaffende Hände (Creating Hands). Relevant aspects of its genesis, history and content are presented. Essential sequences of the painting process and even the application of single brushstrokes can be observed. These strokes are compared to visually similar brush marks on the painting. The findings are related to selected written sources by the artist, his wife Charlotte Behrend-Corinth and their son Thomas.