Reinecke Vor König Nobel Und Seiner Gattin, Braun Dem Bären Und Dem Kater Hinze 1920

Lovis Corinth made this riotous and colorful print of animal figures, seemingly from a fable. You can see how the lithographic crayon skips across the surface of the paper, as if he didn’t want to overwork it. The crown atop the king’s head, rendered in a simple yellow, feels more spontaneous than labored. The materiality of the printmaking medium is right there on the surface. There's a tactile quality to the marks, it almost feels like you could reach out and touch the texture of the crayon. I'm particularly drawn to the way Corinth uses color—not to describe form, but to create a sense of movement and energy. Notice the way the reddish-brown figure lying at the bottom seems to writhe and contort, the marks echo through the animal figures above, a sense of chaos pervades the piece. In some ways, this reminds me of George Grosz, particularly his ink drawings of Weimar Berlin, both artists share a similar interest in the underbelly of society. The piece doesn’t offer any definitive answers, it welcomes multiple readings and interpretations.