Artwork
Ma Belle Mere (Mother-in-Law)
Ma Belle Mere (Mother-in-Law) is an ink print by Lovis Corinth. It dates from 1919 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Ma Belle Mere (Mother-in-Law) is a 1919 drypoint print in black by German artist Lovis Corinth, characterized by expressive, uneven strokes and textured lines achieved through the drypoint technique.
Subject & Meaning
The print depicts an elderly woman, presumably the artist's mother-in-law, sitting with hands folded, conveying a sense of quiet contemplation through her lined face and subdued posture, set against a loosely suggested background.
Technique & Style
Executed in drypoint, the work features rough, fuzzy lines from scratching into a metal plate, reflecting Corinth's post-1911 stylistic shift towards greater expressiveness and looseness, evident in the quick, varied strokes and swirling background textures.
History & Provenance
Created in 1919, after Corinth's stroke in 1911 which influenced his stylistic evolution, the piece is associated with his later period of heightened emotional intensity in portraiture, though specific provenance details are not provided.
Context
Part of Corinth's output following his association with the Berlin Secession, which he later led, Ma Belle Mere situates itself within early 20th-century German art's transition from naturalism to more expressive forms, despite the monochromatic, restrained palette of this particular work.
Legacy
As a representation of Corinth's expressive late style, Ma Belle Mere contributes to the broader legacy of early 20th-century European printmaking and the evolution of portraitures towards emotional depth, though its individual impact within his oeuvre is not specified.
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.
