Lovis Corinth, “Lake Walchen in August”

Lovis Corinth, “Lake Walchen in August” 

At least three canvases adorning the walls of the Lewin residence were created by Lovis Corinth. The oldest painting, dated to 1888, depicting a young girl reading, was produced during the artist’s stay in Paris. The second of the paintings comes from the mature period of the artist’s career and is a large-format still life: a bouquet of irises and peonies painted against a backdrop of wallpaper with a floral pattern. The third of them – “Lake Walchen in Autumn” – is one of the numerous views of the Alpine Lake Walchen painted by Corinth. In 1919, the artist purchased a house by this lake and spent his summer months there until his death in 1925. The result of his work in this mountainous scenery was dozens of landscapes depicting the surroundings. One of these paintings found its place in Lewin’s collection. The landscape “Lake Walchen in Autumn,” created in the autumn of 1922 before it made its way to Breslau, was initially owned by F. Gurlitt in Berlin, and later by K. Zitzmann in Erlangen.

Corinth, along with Liebermann, belonged to contemporary artists whose works were most eagerly acquired by collectors in Breslau. When Lewin decided to sell the paintings he owned, two of them changed hands but remained in the city. The first of them entered the collection of Max Schlamm before 1926, while “Lake Walchen in Autumn” was purchased by Ismar Littmann, enriching his extensive collection of Corinth’s works accumulated over the years.

After Ismar Littmann’s death, the landscape ended up in the Matthiesen gallery in Berlin, and later in private collections in Cologne and at Galerie Grosshenning in Düsseldorf. Currently, “Lake Walchen in Autumn” is part of a private collection in the USA.

Painting Information:

oil on canvas, dimensions: 63 x 79 cm.

Literature:

Lovis Corinth: die Gemälde; Werkverzeichnis, red. Charlotte Berend-Corinth, München 1992, nr 872.