Man with Glasses 1922

Editor: This is Lovis Corinth's "Man with Glasses," housed here at Harvard Art Museums. It looks like it's a charcoal drawing. There's something vulnerable in his gaze. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Well, I see a challenge to the traditional, often heroic, male portrait. The glasses and somewhat hesitant lines disrupt any sense of idealized masculinity. Consider the social anxieties of the early 20th century, where identity was increasingly mediated through external markers. How might this portrait reflect that? Editor: It's interesting, I didn't think about it like that. I was thinking of the individual, but you're making me consider the social context. Curator: Exactly. Art is rarely created in a vacuum; it's a dialogue with its time. Editor: Thanks! I'll definitely look at portraits differently now.