Portrait of Charlotte Berend in white dress 1902

Lovis Corinth painted this portrait of Charlotte Berend, likely in oil, with an approach to mark-making that feels both confident and exploratory. The color palette, dominated by soft whites and earthy tones, sets a delicate, almost dreamlike mood. There’s a real sense of materiality in this painting. You can see the texture of the canvas coming through, and the paint application varies from thin washes to thicker, more expressive strokes. Look at the way Corinth handles the fabric of the dress, especially around the waist – it’s a flurry of brushstrokes that somehow manages to convey both the weight and the lightness of the material. That dark sash is particularly evocative, like a shadow or stain that leads the eye down the painting. Corinth was a contemporary of Edvard Munch, and you can see something of the same emotional intensity in his work, even here, where the subject is rendered with such apparent grace. Both artists embrace ambiguity and multiple interpretations over fixed or definitive meanings.