Rudolf Rittner als Florian Geyer (Rudolf Rittner as Florian Geyer)
1914
Medium
drypoint in black on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 24.8 x 19.8 cm (9 3/4 x 7 13/16 in.) sheet: 34.9 x 24.3 cm (13 3/4 x 9 9/16 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
1991.210.43
Art Historical Context
Lovis Corinth's *Rudolf Rittner als Geyer* (1914) captures the intensity of German actor Rudolf Rittner the role of Florian Geyer, a noble knight who led peasants during the 1525 German Peasants' War. on the eve of World War, this drypoint print reflects Corinth's fascination with theater and historical drama, blending portraiture with dramatic expressionism. As a leading figure in the Berlin Secession Corinth shifted from impressionism to a bolder, more emotive style in his later years, often portraying performers to explore human passion and turmoil. Executed in drypoint—a direct intaglio t...
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...