Lovis Corinth
Sitzender weiblicher Akt
1886
Oil on panel, parquetted 67 x 53 cm Framed. Signed, dated and inscribed 'Lovis Corinth 1886 Paris' upper right. - Professionally restored.
This early painting by Lovis Corinth is one of the figure studies that the artist created during his three years of study at the Académie Julian in Paris. The model, who is also depicted in the painting “Weiblicher Halbakt” (Female Half-Figure Nude) of the same year (cf. Berend-Corinth 31), sits in a relaxed pose on a chair covered with red cloth. The intense highlight coming from above causes the woman's skin and light blonde hair to glow and is reflected by her slender bracelets. The unremarkable situation of the figure within the space of the studio - maintained in warm brown and red tones and largely in darkness - recedes into the background, creating a stage-like situation.
Catalogue Raisonné
Berend-Corinth 33
Provenance
E. Zaeslein, Berlin (ca. 1910); Alfred Walter von Heymel, Berlin; F.A.C. Prestel, Frankfurt, sale 10th May 1915, Sammlung von Gemälden erster Deutscher Meister des 19. Jahrhunderts, no. 39, illus. ("Im Atelier Julian"); Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer/Hugo Helbing, Berlin, sale 8th March 1917, Moderne Gemälde aus dem Nachlass Alfred Walter von Heymel, no. 9; A. Sulzberger, Berlin; Galerie Unger, Munich (circa 30 years ago); Private possession, Baden-Württemberg
Literature
Originalgemälde von Lovis Corinth. Sammlung im Besitze von Ernst Zaeslein. Umfassend alle Schaffensperioden, Königsberg, Paris, Munich, Berlin 1879 bis 1910, Privatsammlungskatalog, Berlin 1910, no. 572 with illus. ("Im Atelier Julian"); Alfred Kuhn, Lovis Corinth, Berlin 1925, no. 13 with illus. p. 48; Robert Bertrand, Lovis Corinth. Collection des Maîtres, Paris 1940, no. 44 with illus.