Lovis Corinth

M. Heinzelmann, Reutlingen (acquired by 1932-33)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Charlotte Berend-Corinth, Lovis Corinth, Die Gemälde, Werkverzeichnis, Munich, 1992, p. 658, no. 628, illustrated

In April 1914 Corinth travelled to Monte Carlo and Rome, painting the present work in his hotel room in Rome.  The rich, heavy brush strokes combined with a strong, deep palete, is a characteristic of Corinth's flower paintings.  The rounded vase positioned centrally in the painting is a motif that appears repeatedly in his still lifes, whilst the deep red and purple tones of the flowers, contrasted with the white of the vase and parts of the background, create a sense of dynamic equilibrium within the composition.  Painted at the height of his career, a year before he was re-elected as President of the Berlin Secession, Romische Blumen im Krug exhibits the richly expressive brushwork and vigorous, painterly style of Corinth's mature oeuvre.  Writing about these late paintings, 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; there is a quality of rage in making all this into a picture, into forcing a vision to emerge" (G. 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).