Eisbahn im Berliner Tiergarten 1909

Lovis Corinth made this oil painting of a skating rink in Berlin, called Eisbahn im Berliner Tiergarten, and looking at it, I can see him enjoying the process of painting, smearing and daubing the paint to build up a scene from fleeting impressions. The physicality of the medium is so important here. The surface has a life of its own, the paint handling is loose, and I think there's a lot of grey mixed with other colours to create a kind of oppressive atmosphere, like in the patch of snow at the bottom of the canvas, where yellow ochre and white merge with grey to create a sense of slushiness. The marks are gestural but also considered, conveying the motion and energy of the skaters and the wintery chill of the scene. The way he builds up the forms with short, broken brushstrokes reminds me of Manet. Corinth, like Manet, invites us to look closely at the surface of the painting, and in doing so, reminds us that art is always a conversation between the artist, the medium, and the viewer.