Zwei Männliche Studienköpfe—Selbstbildnisse (Sketch of Two Male Heads—Self-Portraits)
1915
Medium
drypoint in black on wove paper
Dimensions
plate: 11.6 x 9 cm (4 9/16 x 3 9/16 in.) sheet: 23.7 x 18.1 cm (9 5/16 x 7 1/8 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
1991.210.57
Art Historical Context
Lovis Corinth's *Zwei Männlicheköpfe—Selbstbildnisse* (Sketch of Two Male—Self-Portraits), in 1915, the artist's introspective gaze through the intimate medium of drypoint wove paper. This small print (plate: .6 x 9 cm exemplifies Corinth's late-career mastery, where he etched directly into the metal plate with a sharp needle, producing velvety lines rich with burr—a textured fuzz that yields deep, expressive blacks unlike the cleaner lines of traditional etching. By 1915, amid World War I's turmoil, Corinth was recovering from a debilitating stroke in 1911 that reshaped his style toward bold...
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...