“Woman by a Goldfish Tank”
This oil on canvas piece, known as “Woman by a Goldfish Tank” or “Woman Reading Near Goldfish Tank” is by the German Impressionist and Expressionist artist, Lovis Corinth, from 1911.
Lovis Corinth, or Franz Heinrich Louis Corinth, was born in Eastern Prussia in 1858. Though he bridged the gap between Impressionism and Expressionism, he is mostly remembered for his association with the German Expressionist art movement. This painting was done in the impressionist art style which Corinth was exposed to during his time in Paris. It took Corinth four days to complete this painting.
The woman depicted in this painting is Lovis Corinth’s own wife, Charlotte Berend Corinth, at their apartment in Berlin on Klopstockstrasse. It depicts Charlotte reading a book near a bay window in an area she had decorated as a winter garden filled with plants.
In 1902, Corinth moved to Berlin and opened a painting school for women which is where he met his wife. She 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. After their marriage, the theme of Corinth’s works focused on domestic life and family, including this piece here.
“Woman by a Goldfish Tank” is currently on display at the Upper Belvedere Museum in Vienna, Austria.
For more on Lovis Corinth, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
