Liegender Weiblicher Akt I (Reclining Female Nude I)
1912
Medium
drypoint in black on wove paper
Dimensions
plate: 20.2 x 27 cm (7 15/16 x 10 5/8 in.) sheet: 32.6 x 46.4 cm (12 13/16 x 18 1/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of the Marcy Family in memory of Sigbert H. Marcy
Accession Number
1991.210.14
Art Historical Context
Lovis Corinth's *Liegender Weiblicher I (Reclining Female Nude I, created in 1912, the sensual curve of a reclining female figure in a masterful drypoint etching. A pivotal figure in German modernism, Corinth (1858–1925) bridged Impressionism and Expressionism, co-founding the Berlin Secession to challenge academic traditions. By 1912, following a stroke the previous year, his work grew bolder and more introspective, infusing classical nude motifs with raw emotional intensity and loose, vibrant lines. Drypoint, Corinth's chosen medium here, involves scratching directly into a copper plate wit...
About the Artist
Lovis Corinth · 1858–1925
Lovis Corinth, born Franz Heinrich Louis on July 21, 1858, in Tapiau, East Prussia (now Gvardeysk, Russia), to a tanner father, displayed prodigious drawing talent from childhood. He began formal training at the Königsberg Academy in 1876, then moved to the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1880 to 1884, studying under Ludwig von Löfftz and briefly Franz von Defregger, where he absorbed a Realis...