Self-Portrait with a Glass 1907

Lovis Corinth made this painting of himself, shirtless, and clutching a glass in his left hand. I bet he was looking intensely into a mirror, trying to work out who he really was. Corinth is unafraid to show himself. The marks are raw and urgent; I can almost feel the bristles of the brush scratching at the canvas. There’s a tension between the fleshy tones of his skin and the ochre palette of the background. It looks like he built up the paint in layers, with the darker tones pulling forward. When I look at this painting, I see a kind of kinship across time. I see echoes of Rembrandt's self-portraits, and I see a dialogue between past and present, tradition and innovation. Corinth is conversing with all these different ghosts. He is saying: this is me, this is now, but I know where I come from.