Artwork
"Einer dirne schön gesicht muss allgemein sein wie's sonnenlicht" ("A Pretty Girl's Face is Like the Sunshine")
"Einer dirne schön gesicht muss allgemein sein wie's sonnenlicht" ("A Pretty Girl's Face is Like the Sunshine") is an ink print by Lovis Corinth. It dates from 1923 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Lovis Corinth’s 1923 etching *Einer dirne schön gesicht muss allgemein sein wie’s sonnenlicht* (A Pretty Girl’s Face Is Like the Sunshine) is executed in black ink on laid paper. The work presents a loosely rendered group of figures, their faces reduced to simple, almost scribbled forms, and a background of gestural strokes that convey a spontaneous, lively atmosphere.
Subject & Meaning
The composition gathers several individuals, some wearing hats and one holding a fan, arranged in a casual, informal grouping. The title’s reference to a girl’s face as sunshine suggests a light‑hearted, perhaps affectionate observation, while the sketch‑like treatment emphasizes the immediacy of the scene rather than a detailed narrative.
Technique & Style
Corinth employed traditional etching, incising lines into a metal plate and printing them onto paper, a process that yields the uneven, vigorous marks visible in the image. By the early 1920s his approach combined the loose, expressive brushwork of post‑stroke expressionism with lingering impressionistic concerns for light, resulting in a dynamic, unpolished surface.
History & Provenance
After a debilitating stroke in 1911, Corinth’s style shifted toward freer, more vibrant compositions, a change reflected in this late work. Previously a naturalistic painter and president of the Berlin Secession succeeding Max Liebermann, he continued to explore printmaking throughout his career. The etching remains documented in catalogues of his graphic output from the early 1920s.
Artist & collection
Artist
Lovis Corinth was a German artist and writer whose mature work as a painter and printmaker realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism.
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