Portrait of a Woman with Dark Hair and Red Corsage, c. 1904

With a friendly smile, the young lady is looks frontally out of the picture. Her put-up dark hair and her off-the-shoulder dress refer the portrait to the world of the soiree. The naturalism of her facial features is in contrast to the sketchy and summary treatment of her corsage. The pastel technique, in which colors blend easily, allowed Lovis Corinth (1858–1925) to achieve delicate color shadings and blurred areas. These soft painterly effects underscore the spontaneous look of the painting. The work belongs to Corinth’s impressionist phase. He took up residence in Berlin in 1899, where he was, on par with Max Liebermann (1847–1935) and Max Slevogt (1868–1932), one of the main exponents of German Impressionism.

AK, 2021