Lovis Corinth (1856-1925) drypoint, Self Portrait, 1912, signed in pencil and annotated ”pr”, an artist’s proof aside from the edition of 50. Reference: Schwarz 160. In good condition apart from marginal mat stain (well outside of the plate mark), the margins cut irregularly as in a proof, prior hinging on verso. Acid free archival mounting. On laid paper, with margins (4 5/8 x 3 1/2, the sheet 8 1/4 x 6 inches.

A very fine, strong, impression, with the drypoint burr extremely vivid; a proof surely created before the run of the edition.

Corinth was one of the early German Expressionists (he participated in the first exhibit of the Berlin Secessionists in 1899). In the first decade of the 20th Century Corinth was regarded as the foremost German “impressionist” after Liebermann. After a stroke in 1911, his work became more expressionistic; here his expression is tentative but his artistic approach is completely confident, and it is work such as this portrait and that of his later years (branded as “degenerate” by the Nazis) for which he is most appreciated today.