Lovis Corinth

Lovis Corinth

Lovis Corinth was a German artist who lived from 1858 to 1925. Though he bridged the gap between Impressionism and Expressionism, he is mostly remembered for his association with the German Expressionist art movement. However, he considered himself an impressionist. Along with Max Libermann and Max Slevogt, Corinth is also one of the most celebrated of the German Impressionists. 

Corinth was born as Franz Heinrich Louis Corinth in Eastern Prussia. His hometown is in modern day Russia. He had an affinity for art from a young age. Corinth officially started his art studies in 1876 at 18 years old at the Academy of Königsberg. He continued his education for years in various places throughout Europe, apprenticing under such artists as William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Ludwig von Löfftz. By 1888, Corinth officially adopted “Lovis Corinth” as his artist name.

In 1892, Lovis Corinth left the Munich academy to help found the Munich ‘Sezession’. He had been disheartened from the lack of recognition he received from the Paris Salon. The first art secession had just happened in 1890 in France in which artists who favored a less traditional approach formed their own union, of sorts. They were reactionary art movements that occurred several times in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

Corinth also participated in the Berlin Secession in 1899 and soon became its president. After some time, the Secession groups crumbled. So in 1902, Corinth moved to Berlin and opened a painting school for women. This is where he met his wife, Charlotte, who was his first student and was 20 years his junior. She quickly became his muse and remained as such for the rest of his life.

In December of 1911, Corinth suffered from a stroke which left his left side partially paralyzed. Corinth spent the following year on an extended health retreat on the coast of Italy with his family. With the help of his wife, he worked to be able to paint again. Interestingly, Corinth originally was against the Expressionist art movement that he is most remembered for. It was only after he suffered his stroke that he started to paint in this manner, using looser brush strokes and brighter colors. In 1925, Corinth traveled to Amsterdam to see the works of his favorite Dutch masters. While in Amsterdam, Lovis Corinth caught pneumonia and died, just days before his 67th birthday.

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