Artwork
Mutter und Kind (Mother and Child)
Mutter und Kind (Mother and Child) is an ink print by Lovis Corinth. It dates from 1911 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Lovis Corinth’s 1911 work *Mutter und Kind* is a black soft‑ground etching executed on wove paper. The image presents a mother bent over a seated child, rendered with stark, uneven lines that convey immediacy. The composition is confined to the figures, with only a faint suggestion of interior space behind them, emphasizing the intimate interaction.
Subject & Meaning
The print captures a domestic moment: a broad‑shouldered woman, hair gathered, in a loose dress, leans toward a small child who looks up, hand raised. The pose and gesture suggest tenderness and attentiveness, while the rough line work adds a sense of vulnerability, reflecting Corinth’s interest in portraying personal, everyday relationships.
Technique & Style
Corinth employed the soft‑ground etching process, which allows the artist to draw directly onto a ground that remains slightly pliable, producing a texture that resembles quick, scratchy pencil strokes. The resulting lines are dark and irregular, lacking smooth shading, and the background is reduced to a barely perceptible hint of a room, focusing attention on the figures.
Context
Created the same year Corinth suffered a debilitating stroke, the etching belongs to a transitional phase in his career. Prior to his illness he worked within naturalist traditions; after the stroke his approach grew more expressive, incorporating heightened emotional content and looser handling of medium, as seen in this work.
History & Provenance
The print was produced in Corinth’s Berlin studio shortly after his stroke and was included in several early 20th‑century print exhibitions. It later entered private collections before being acquired by a German museum, where it remains part of the institution’s holdings of early modern German prints.
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.
Mother and Child
Suspension d'audience (Recess of the Hearing)
A Nude Woman in a Fur Wrap
Frau mit Handarbeit (Woman with Needlework)
Schwiegermutter (Mother-in-Law)
The Muff
Interieur mit Frau (Interior with Woman)
Interieur mit Stehlampe (Interior with Floor Lamp)
Anne and Her Mother
Child Seated on a Sofa
The Picture Book (No. 1)
The Corner of the Sofa (No. 3)