The Jochberg and the Walchensee 1924

Lovis Corinth made this painting of the Jochberg and the Walchensee with expressive brushstrokes and a rich palette of greens, blues, and earth tones. Imagine Corinth outside, wrestling with the canvas, trying to pin down the light as it flickers across the landscape. I love how the brushstrokes feel so impulsive, almost violent. Look how the paint is laid on so thick, especially in the foreground, creating a tactile, almost sculptural surface. It's like Corinth is building up the landscape, brick by brick, with each stroke of his brush. The way he layers the colors – daubs of greens and yellows over darker browns – gives the trees a vibrant, pulsating energy. I see hints of Impressionism in his handling of light and color, but there’s also something much wilder, more untamed in his approach. I wonder if he knew artists like Soutine who also reveled in the materiality of paint? Painting is a conversation through time, after all. Each artist riffs off what came before, pushing and pulling, always in dialogue. It’s never really finished, and it’s so exciting.