The Fair Imperia 1925

Lovis Corinth made this painting, The Fair Imperia, with oils on canvas. The brushwork is so immediate! I imagine Corinth working on this, the painting coming into being through a shifting process of trial, error, and intuition. What was he thinking when he laid down those strokes? There’s such a feeling of energy and movement with the gestural marks and swirling forms. The paint is applied thickly, giving texture and depth to the image. It’s like he’s trying to capture a fleeting moment, or an elusive idea. The figures emerge from a background of reds and golds, their forms dissolving into the surrounding space. I love how he suggests details with just a few strokes of paint. The gestures communicate feeling. Corinth is in dialogue with painters like Manet and the Impressionists, but he’s also doing his own thing, pushing the boundaries of representation and expression. It's a conversation between painters across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. This painting embraces ambiguity, encouraging multiple interpretations.