Rosen, Tulpen und Flieder 1916

Lovis Corinth made "Roses, Tulips, and Lilacs" in 1916, and it's like he's wrestling with the paint, trying to pin down these fleeting blooms. You can see it in the brushstrokes, how he's not just copying what's there, but really feeling his way through the process. Up close, the surface is alive. Thick daubs of paint create a kind of relief map of color. The whites are creamy and built up, almost sculptural. Look at the way he's rendered the roses - they're not delicate, perfectly formed things, but these chunky, almost aggressive forms. See that stroke of deep red on the central rose? It's like a slash, a burst of energy that disrupts the softness of the flower. Corinth reminds me of Soutine, that same intensity, the way they both seem to be battling it out with the canvas. It's a reminder that art isn't about pretty pictures, it's about the messy, complicated, and often contradictory experience of being alive.