Paradise 1911

Lovis Corinth made this painting, Paradise, using oils on canvas. Look at the way Corinth built up the surface, like he was wrestling with the paint. You can almost feel him pushing and pulling the pigments across the canvas. The colours are earthy – ochres, greens, blues – not exactly the candy colours you might expect from a paradise scene. And the textures, wow, they range from smooth glazes to areas where the paint is practically sculpted. See how the light catches the ridges in Adam’s arm? It’s like Corinth wanted to capture the raw, physical act of creation itself. The edges of forms feel tentative. Corinth reminds me a bit of Max Beckmann, both trying to get something unresolved and honest onto the canvas. Both are interested in showing the world as they see it, paradise and all, warts and all.