Der Kuss (The Kiss)

Corinth employed dry‑point, a intaglio method in which a sharp needle incises the metal plate, leaving a burr that produces a characteristic grainy texture when printed. The resulting lines are loose, uneven, and appear as if drawn quickly, aligning the piece with the expressionist tendency toward spontaneous, emotive mark‑making that emerged in Corinth’s later career.

Lovis Corinth, who had trained in Paris and Munich and later headed the Berlin Secession, shifted from naturalistic approaches to a more expressionist language after a debilitating stroke in 1911. *Der Kuss* belongs to this post‑stroke period, illustrating the synthesis of his academic background with the heightened emotionalism that defined his mature output.

The early 1920s in Germany saw a flourishing of avant‑garde printmaking, with artists exploring the expressive possibilities of dry‑point and other intaglio techniques. Corinth’s print reflects this climate, marrying his earlier academic discipline with the raw, gestural aesthetics championed by contemporaries seeking to convey inner experience over external realism.