LOVIS CORINTH | Odaliske (Odalisque)

Collection H. Thannhauser, Berlin
Collection Dr A. Ebering, Magdebrug
Galerie Matthiesen, Berlin
Private Collection, Stockholm & Berlin (acquired from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owners

Berlin, National Galerie, Gedächtnis-Ausstellung, Lovis Corinth, 1926, no. 313 (titled Orientalische Tänzerin)

Charlotte Berend-Corinth, Die Gemälde von Lovis Corinth, Werkkatalog, Munich, 1958, no. 786, illustrated p. 724

Oil on panel. Inspection under UV light reveals two small areas of retouching to the extreme lower and right edges which are likely to have been caused by frame abrasion and are not visible when framed. There is evidence of shrinkage to the pigment throughout the composition and minor losses and chips to the extreme edges consistent with frame abrasion. There is a minor chip to the panel at the extreme lower right edge. Overall this work is in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present work depicts the artist's wife Charlotte Berend-Corinth who acted as his muse and posed for many of Corinth's most successful compositions. Taking inspiration from the Turkish Odalisque, a subject celebrated through the years most prominently by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres in his work of 1814 presently in the Louvre in Paris and by artists such as Henri Matisse, Corinth pursues this theme as a celebration of sensuality. The thick and vibrant brushstrokes employed by the artist evoke a certain musical movement and harmony within the composition, heightened by the sinuous and dazzling depiction of the figure. Corinth expands: 'as the music evolved by man and the singing of the birds is only really a response to sexual attraction, so too is painting a purely sensual expression. I would probably say that eroticism, as a purely painterly concept, would be the most profound and the hardest to master' (the artist quoted in Christoph Vitali, Barbara Butts & Peter Klaus Schuster, Lovis Corinth (exhibition catalogue) Haus der Kunst, Munich, 1996, p. 54).