Lovis Corinth

Dr. Erwin Rosenthal, Berlin (by 1922)
Kunsthalle, Bremen (acquired from the above in 1922)
Graphisches Kabinett, Bremen (acquired by exchange in June 1926)
Galerie Fritz Gurlitt, Berlin (acquired from the above in June-July 1926)
Dr. Arthur Rosin, Berlin and New York
Thence by descent to the present owner

Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Lovis Corinth, 1926, no. 347

"Neue Arbeiten von Lovis Corinth", in Georg Biermann, Der Cicerone, vol. 14, Leipzig, 1922, p. 858, illustrated
Charlotte Berend-Corinth, Die Gemälde von Lovis Corinth, Munich, 1958, p. 808, no. 870, illustrated

The paintings that Corinth completed during the last six years of his life are among his most stylistically daring. They demonstrate a higher level of abstraction than many of his earlier canvases and are explicitly modern interpretations of the natural world. He gave particular importance to his landscapes of the countryside in northern Germany where the present work was painted in 1922 and the Walchensee in Bavaria. In the present work, Corinth captured spring’s wild beauty with vibrant colour and a heavy impasto - a style often compared to the French avant-garde painter Soutine, who was Corinth’s contemporary. When they were first exhibited in Berlin in the early 1920s, Corinth’s new landscapes met with resounding critical approval; he was hailed as a genius, and his recent work was called ‘astonishing.’ Many of these works were selected as the official German entries for the 1922 Venice Biennale and were considered representatives of the best avant-garde painting in Germany. Corinth’s artistic success came at a time of increasing introspection that followed the war years. He was able to express his inward emotions through his painting, and the results of this effort were ultimately enriching for his art.

Corinth painted this apple tree in full blossom at Klein-Niendorf in Mecklenburg. He had spent his holidays there during the war years, and when he returned in 1922, he painted with a new forceful expressiveness of brushwork and colour. Particularly striking in this picture of spring are the background flashes of fresh green in the field and a brilliant cornflower blue that contrast sharply with the white of the profusion of apple blossoms that dominate the surface. The wild impasto captures the weight of the apple blossoms, and the explosion of colours transforms an otherwise placid landscape into one full of vital emotion. It appears as if a wind is blowing through the orchard, sweeping the blossoms and branches into a whirlwind of paint. The choice of subject may be interpreted as hopeful; this gnarled tree, still bursting with life, is undeniably indicative of the power of Corinth’s creative energy during the last years of his life.