Lovis Corinth

Galerie Caspari, Munich
Dr Erich Josef Goeritz, London (acquired from the above in 1919)
Thence by descent to the present owner in 1955

Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Lovis Corinth, 1923, no. 91
Munich, Neue Staatsgalerie, Lovis Corinth, 1924, no. 37, illustrated in the catalogue
Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Lovis Corinth, 1926, no. 261
Munich, Glaspalast, Lovis Corinth, 1926
Basel, Kunsthalle, Lovis Corinth, 1936, no. 36
Burlington Gallery, London, Twentieth Century German Art, 1938, no. 24
Schaffhausen, Museum zu Allerheiligen, Deutsche Impressionisten - Lieberman, Corinth und Sleevogt, 1955, no. 71
Tel Aviv, The Tel Aviv Museum, Jubilee Exhibition, Masters of Modern Art, 1982, no. 31

Charlotte Behrend-Corinth, Lovis Corinth, Die Gemälde, Werkverzeichnis, Munich, 1992, no. 632, illustrated p. 660

The canvas is not lined and the work is on its original stretcher. UV examination reveals some very small, scattered spots of retouching to the red and yellow tulips in the lower right quadrant of the composition, and a few further spots of retouching to the red and yellow tulips in the centre left. There are several areas of slightly raised craquelure, most notably within the large white amaryllis to the centre of the upper right quadrant, and the red and yellow tulips in the lower part of the composition, all of which are stable and not visually distracting. This work is in overall good condition. An additional condition report from Hamish Dewar Fine Art Conservation is available on request.
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Blumenkorb mit Amaryllis, Flieder, Rosen und Tulpen is exemplary of the revived intensity in the artist’s mature œuvre, a hymn to the unconquerable force of life in nature. Lovis Corinth’s passion for painting and his creative power helped him to overcome a stroke he suffered in 1911. This event sparked an intense interest in the simple, intimate intricacies of daily life. Whilst Corinth engaged in new subject matters and responded to new influences throughout his career, he took up still lifes with renewed enthusiasm after 1911. 

Blumenkorb mit Amaryllis, Flieder, Rosen und Tulpen powerfully exhibits the expressive brushwork and vigorous, painterly style of Corinth's mature œuvre. Writing about these works, Georg Bussmann commented: 'He rejoices in painting wet upon wet, in painting colour upon colour, in smudging them and then stopping suddenly and simply allowing them to glow' (Georg Bussmann, 'Lovis Corinth: The Late Works', in German Art in the Twentieth Century. Painting and Sculpture 1905-1985 (exhibition catalogue), Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1985, p. 436).

The paintings that Corinth completed during the later years of his life are among his most stylistically complete. They demonstrate a higher level of expressiveness than some of his earlier canvases and are explicitly modern interpretations of the natural world. The rich impasto combined with a strong, deep palette are characteristic of the artist's flower paintings. The pink, red and darker green-grey tones, contrasted with the white and lighter tones of the abstracted background create a sense of dynamic equilibrium within the composition, at the height of Corinth's artistic prowess.