Thomas Corinth with Straw Hat - Lovis Corinth

A late-career portrait by Lovis Corinth, featuring his son Thomas rendered with expressive, thick brushwork and a moody, earth-toned palette.

This portrait depicts Thomas Corinth, the son of the artist, captured during the final years of Lovis Corinth's career. Painted in 1923, the work demonstrates the shift in the artist's approach towards a more subjective and gestural application of paint. The brushwork is thick and rapid, prioritising the immediate sensation of the subject over precise anatomical detail.

Corinth employs a palette dominated by earthy browns, deep ochres, and muted shadows, which contrast with the lighter tones of the straw hat and the suggestion of a white collar. The subject wears a dark suit and tie, his features rendered through bold, directional strokes that suggest the structure of the face rather than defining it with smooth transitions. The light source appears to come from the upper left, casting the right side of the face into shadow and creating a sense of volume through colour contrast alone.

As a late work, this painting reflects the artist's move away from the academic training of his youth. The surface texture is tactile, with visible impasto that records the physical movement of the brush. The composition is tight, focusing on the upper torso and head of the sitter, which creates an intimate connection between the viewer and the subject. The signature and date are visible in the upper left corner, applied with the same energetic hand as the rest of the canvas. This piece offers a clear view into the stylistic transition of German art during the early twentieth century, where the focus shifted towards the emotional and physical reality of the act of painting.