The Walchensee in the Moonlight 1920

Lovis Corinth laid down the "Walchensee in the Moonlight" with a whole lotta paint. He’s using a juicy brushstroke, it’s all about the stuff of painting, less about copying the view. The thick paint is really doing the work here, I mean, look at the stormy sky. Corinth is really working the surface, you can practically feel the wind. It's all loaded with feeling, a bit anxious, a bit wild. Look at the little houses huddling on the hill, lit up against the dark. There’s a glow of warmth, but it’s fragile, like a memory. That little patch of orangey red on the roof, it’s not just color, it’s like a heartbeat. Corinth reminds me of Soutine, that same love of paint, a kind of ecstatic, almost frantic way of building a world out of color. Both of them show us that painting isn’t just about seeing, it’s about feeling your way through the dark.