BRUSHSTROKES THE ART OF PUTTING THE RIGHT COLOR IN THE RIGHT SPOT 19. November 2019 – Spr !" 202# Be" !! !" $!% e!% o& '(e 'o)r *Room 1 $!% 2+ Dedicated to the question of what we mean when we say that a picture is “well painted,” this presentation examines the art of painting from a variety of angles. Aspects to be addressed include the pace of painting, beginner’s luck, questions of authorship, theories of color, and the quest for “pure” painting! "ovis Corinth created an enormous painted bouquet of flowers, a gift for his wife on her birthday in %&%%, in a mere three days. When (ranz von *tuck started experimenting with oil paints and the picture turned out well, he proudly labeled it “my +rst oil painting” right on the canvas—a message intended for himself as well as for posterity. A rapidly yet brilliantly executed unsigned portrait of a woman might be by Wilhelm -usch or by (ranz von "enbach, as both painted in very similar styles in the early stages of their careers. .ne would think that landscape painters should have a penchant for the color green, but oddly enough, pure green straight from the tube was derided as “spinach.” Wilhelm "eibl, +nally, cared only for the “how,” not the “what”/ his search for the “essence of painting” inspired his colleague Carl *chuch to make a radically simplified still life with lee s. 0he exhibition explores what and, more importantly, how the artists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries painted. 0he question of the painterly too on such signi+cance at the time that it spurred both the early plein1air painters and the circle around Wilhelm "eibl to chart thoroughly innovative creative practices. *hifting the emphasis from the motif to the quality and e2ect of color, they also paved the way for 3xpressionism and the abstract art of the twentieth century. "ovis Corinth 0apiau, .stpreu4en 1858 – 8andvoort %&96 :ymn to ;ichelangelo, %&%% (: 271, -ayern "-, on permanent loan to "enbachhaus ;unich Corinth’s wife, the painter Charlotte -ehrend1Corinth, recalls in her memoirs that the sub=ect of flowers “was forever on >"ovis Corinth’s? mind. 0he fascination >@? remained the same regardless of whether he saw flowers tied in a bouquet in -erlin >@? or spread out in lush abundance at a manor like Klein-Biendorf, where countless varieties of roses were cultivated both in the open and in greenhouses. Ct was there that he painted the Hymn to Michelangelo >@? 0he gardens and Pre,,e-on'$-': C/$)% $ Weber /1 T +39 89 2## 32020 /1 pre,,e5/e!b$6(($),7m)e!6(e!.de greenhouses >were? raided, and roses, poppies, irises, and carnations were hauled in in bas ets and pots and bowls and arranged around a bust of a slave by ;ichelangelo. Corinth wor ed on the picture for three days. :e gave it to me.” "ovis Corinth 0apiau, .stpreu4en 1858 – 8andvoort %&96 "ake Walchen by ;oonlight, %&9D AK 10, Gabriele ;Fnter1 und Gohannes 3ichner1*tiftung, on permanent loan to "enbachhaus ;unich Cn %&%&, Corinth built himself a home in Hrfeld on "ake Walchensee in Hpper -avaria, where he spent as much time as possible in his +nal years. Hsually wor ing under the open s y, he created around sixty paintings there as well as numerous watercolors and drawings. (or the nocturnal views, Corinth mixed the paints on his palette and prepared the compositions in advance so that he would be able to wor even in very dim light. Although the pictures appear to be quickly executed wor s of a moment’s inspiration, they are the result of careful planning. 8The ,)bje6' m$: ($ve bee! 're$'e% $ ()!%re% 'ime,; (o< $ p$r' 6)/$r p$ !'er !'erpre', ' s <($' m$ke, '(e p 6')re !e< $!% $ <ork o& $r'.= Lovis Cor !'( *1904+ Room 2 SECESSIONISTS "ovis Corinth was one of the most versatile German painters wor ing around the turn of the century. :aving started out with an almost crude realism, he went through an Cmpressionist phase before arriving at an 3xpressionist late style. A native of 3ast Irussia, Corinth studied at the ;unich Academy from 1880 until 1884 and was a founding member of the ;unich *ecession in 1892. :e went on to chair the -erlin *ecession having moved to the capital in %&DD. *ince the late 1880s, ;unich’s art scene was rife with discontent with the influential ;Fnchner AFnstlergenossenschaft, the local artists’ association. :eaded by (ranz von "enbach, this conservative organization, by being in control of exhibitions, indirectly promoted or hampered artists’ careers. Cn %5&9, 107 rebel artists founded the Kerein -ildender AFnstler ;Fnchens, better nown as the ;unich *ecession. Cn the German-speaking countries, it was the +rst time that the younger generation made its break with the larger community of established artists oLcial. Hnited by their re=ection of the traditional vision of art, they advocated highly selective rather than mass exhibitions, and espoused internationalism, and creative self1determination. Iut o2 by the growing provincialism of the enormous presentations at ;unich’s Glaspalast, they did not champion a speci+c program of their own and in fact explicitly endorsed a plurality of styles. *till, their shared desire to leave historicism behind and devise a new artistic idiom was evident. 0heir determination to =ettison the musty academic conventions unleashed a liberating energy. A Pre,,e-on'$-': C/$)% $ Weber /1 T +39 89 2## 32020 /1 pre,,e5/e!b$6(($),7m)e!6(e!.de comparatively planar manner of painting in light colors emerged as the characteristic style of many *ecessionists, who thus became important forerunners of modernism in art. Artists like "ovis Corinth, ;ax *levogt, and Albert 'eisgerber responded to the challenge of pure painting in very different ways. 0he common element in their oeuvres is a new and enthusiastic embrace of color. ;ax *levogt "andshut 1868 – Beu astel %&N9 Danae, %5&6 G %DJJ, acquired in %&9& *levogt, the second eminent Eerman Baturalist and Cmpressionist beside Corinth, spent most of the years between 1885 and 1897 in ;unich. :is Danae was removed from the ;unich *ecession’s exhibition in 1899 shortly before the opening because the organizers feared that the realistic depiction of a non-classical female body in a scene from classical mythology might cause a scandal. *levogt’s fellow artists and art critics like Karl Koll, by contrast, extolled the “magnificent colors” and the picture’s painterly qualities irrespective of its sub=ect. 8R$re/: ($s $ p$ !' !" evoke% $ ,'ro!"er ,e!,$'io! ! me; '(e "o/% pie6es r$ ! !" %o<! o! '(e &ore,(or'e!e% bo%: o& '(e !$ke% >$!$e ele6'r &ie% me $s $ mir$6le o& 6olor ,' 6 be$)':. I ($% !ever see! %$:/ "(' p$ !'e% ! ,)6( liber$l &$,( o!.= The p$ !'er Ha!s P)rrm$!! o! ?$@ Slevo"'As >$!$e *193B+ 8A!% ' s $lso ! '(e 6o/or '($' CDE (is mer ' / es. Here $!% '(ere $ ver: ,)mp')o)s r$% $!6e o& 6olor ,p$rkles $!% "le$m,F $!% more $!% more '(e mo%er! $,pir$'io! $!!o)!6es 'se/& 'o b$se '(e &orm,F %e,p 'e '(eir 6o!, %er$ble $" / ': $!% %e& ! 'io!F o! 6olor $/o!eF < '(o)' '(e $ % o& e@p/$!$'or: "r$p( 6$l %ev 6e,F 'o % ,,olve '(em ! Impre,,io! ,' 6 &$,(io! $!% 6o!,'r)6' '(e p 6')re &rom !o'( !" b)' 6olors.= K$rl Goll o! ?$@ Slevo"' *1912+ "ovis Corinth 0apiau, .stpreu4en 1858 – 8andvoort %&96 *elf1portrait with * eleton, %5&M G 9D<6, acquired in %&9& 0he self1portrait shows the artist at the age of thirty1eight. Ct is the +rst in a series of such paintings that Corinth created from the turn of the century until his death, usually on Guly 21, his birthday. Corinth does not present himself in the act of painting, although he is in his studio, a room with a large north-facing window. 0he bright contre1=our leaves his face shadowed. 0he s eleton hanging on a hoo by his side is a typical prop in an artist’s studio of the time. Cn this wor , it is obviously also an allusion to the traditional memento mori picture. "ovis Corinth 0apiau, .stpreu4en 1858 – 8andvoort %&96 Pre,,e-on'$-': C/$)% $ Weber /1 T +39 89 2## 32020 /1 pre,,e5/e!b$6(($),7m)e!6(e!.de 0he Iianist Conrad Ansorge, 1903 * 9&, ;Fnchener *ecession, on permanent loan to "enbachhaus ;unich Conrad Ansorge, who had studied with "iszt, rose to renown as a concert pianist in the 1890s/ his -eethoven interpretations, in particular, were celebrated. :e also composed, setting contemporary lyric poetry by *tefan Eeorge, Oilke, and Bietzsche to music. Corinth painted him in his garden rather than at the piano. Iresenting his sitter as a famous artist, it seems, held less appeal to him than the challenges of a portrait created en plein air! rendering light through luminous color and the modulation of local hues by tinged shadows and reflections. 0he crisp greens contrast with Ansorge’s somber expression. Albert Weisgerber *t. Cngbert 1878 – (romellesPQpern %&%6 Iaris Oestaurant, %&DM G %%D%, a donation from "udwig -Rhler, ;Fnchen %&9& Weisgerber was a master student of (ranz von *tuck’s and a member of the ;unich *ecession. During several stints in Iaris beginning in %&D6, he =oined the disciples of :enri ;atisse, who gathered at the CafS du DTme on a regular basis. 0he influence of the (auves around ;atisse is unmistakable in Weisgerber’s paintings from this time! wor ing in bold colors, he framed a vital world, deftly using graphical brushwor to capture the restlessness of metropolitan life. 0he slanted brushstro es convey a vivid sense of the driving rain and underscore the $eeting quality of the situation.