Self Portrait, 1909
Lovis Corinth (1858-1925), Self Portrait, 1909, drypoint, signed in pencil lower right [also signed and dated in the plate]. Reference: Schwartz 34. In good condition, with full margins (slight but discernible light stain), 8 3/4 x 6 3/8, the sheet 16 5/8 x 10 1/2 inches, archival mounting. Published by Bruno Cassirer, Berlin. On cream laid paper, with the watermark H Antique. From the edition of 50.
A fine clear impression, with the burr from the drypoint particularly effective.
Corinth, surely influenced by Rembrandt, made a series of self-portrait prints through his career. This relatively early portrait is one of his strongest; it shows a mature, confident artist working at the height of his powers. At this stage, the end of the first decade of the Twentieth Century, Corinth was indeed a well-regarded artist, one of the leading German “impressionists.” It had been ten years since he had participated in the first Berlin Secession exhibition (that was in 1899, and the following year had a one man show with Cassirer). He was now well-known for his large romantic paintings of religious and mythological subjects – terribly fashionable at the time. This was a few years before he had his stroke (in 1911), which led to a series of darker portraits.