Othello | |
---|---|
Artist | Lovis Corinth |
Year | 1884 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 78 cm× 58.5 cm(31 in× 23.0 in) |
Location | Private collection |
Othello, also known as Sailor, is an oil on canvas painting by the German painter Lovis Corinth, from 1884. It is a bust portrait of a black man who was a dock worker or sailor from the port of Antwerp, Belgium. The artist signed the painting in the upper left and titled it in the upper right with the words: "Un Othello". It was in the Lentos Art Museum, in Linz, since 1953, until when it was restituted to the family of his former owners, and later auctioned, in 2015. It is now in a private collection.
The painting is an early work by Corinth and was made during a staying in Antwerp. In 1884, Corinth went there for three months and studied under Belgian painter Paul Eugène Gorge , in whose studio he made this canvas and also a portrait of Gorge himself. The man portrayed is a dock worker or a sailor from Antwerp. [1] Lothar Brauner places this painting in the tradition and under the influence of Frans Hals, but states that Corinth probably did not know his paintings at the time. [2]
The painting shows a dark-skinned man in front of a deep gray background, with his upper body slightly turned to the left. The man's face is turned towards the viewer. He wears a holey wool shirt with red and white horizontal stripes and a wide collar, which is painted very roughly. Only the upper arms and a part of the forearm on the right are visible; the shirt ends just before the elbow joint. [3]
Due to his dark skin and black hair as well because of the black-gray background, his facial features aren't entirely recognizable; his hair also seems to blend into the background. The face itself is made uneasy by strong lighting. The man has a small beard and looks to the left side with an apparent sense of unease. [4]
The portrait makes a comparison between the anonymous model and the title character of William Shakespeare's play Othello , like if he was a modern days counterpart. This was made probably to highlight the model's strenght and pride, more than to give him any aristocratic or leadership conotation.
Art historian Friedrich Gross compares the current painting with the Orientalist work Baschi-Bazouk , by French academic painter Jean-Léon Gérôme, in order to highlight the differences between the two portraits of black men, especially in terms of their sensuality. In comparison to Corinth's Othello, the black soldier portrayed by Gérôme shows "calm, security, pride, reinforced by his respect-inspiring outfit", while Othello appears somewhat excited. The formal sensuality of the Gérôme painting is characterized by a restrained depiction and fine coordination of the distribution of light and dark, while in Corinth's painting a "conscious dissolution into color spots" and the use of violent brushstrokes dominate it. The strong light-dark contrasts created by the coarse shirt and the lighting on the face makes it look uneasy. According to Gross' analysis, Corinth's portrait belongs "in the humanistic tradition of psychologically profound representations of the Negro, from Rembrandt van Rijn and Frans Hals to Géricault" to "the 'modern' realism that strives for immediate truth to life." [5]
The painting was first owned by R. Brackl in Munich, and afterwards it passed through three different owners, the last being the Jewish couple Jean and Ida Baer, in Berlin. Later it came into the possession of the art collector Wolfgang Gurlitt, in Munich, who acquired it in 1953 for the Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz (now Lentos Art Museum, in Linz). [6] In 2015, it was restituted by the museum to the heirs of Jean and Ida Baer, and sold on their behalf on 21 May 2015 at an auction held by Sotheby's, in London, for £353,000, well above the £50,000-70,000 estimate. [7]
Emil Nolde was a German-Danish painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of the early 20th century to explore color. He is known for his brushwork and expressive choice of colors. Golden yellows and deep reds appear frequently in his work, giving a luminous quality to otherwise somber tones. His watercolors include vivid, brooding storm-scapes and brilliant florals.
Lovis Corinth was a German artist and writer whose mature work as a painter and printmaker realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism.
The Lentos Art Museum is a museum of modern art in Linz, Austria, which opened in May 2003 as the successor to the Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz.
Wolfgang Gurlitt was a German art dealer, museum director and publisher whose art collection included Nazi-looted art.
Charlotte Berend-Corinth was a German Jewish painter and artist in the Berliner Secession. She was married to German painter Lovis Corinth.
Friedrich August von Kaulbach was a German portraitist and historical painter.
Prestel Publishing is an art book publisher, with books on art, architecture, photography, design, fashion, craft, culture, history and ethnography. Lists range from museum guides, to encyclopaedias, art and architecture monographs to facsimile volumes and books for children.
Thomas Reinhold is an Austrian painter, one of the initiators of so-called “New Painting”.
The Cologne school of painting is the set of medieval German painters generally. This term, first applied in the 19th century, subsequently came to refer specifically to painters who had their workshops in medieval Cologne and the lower-Rhine region from about 1300 to 1550.
Portrait of the Artist's Family is a portrait of the family of the painter Hans Holbein the Younger by the artist himself. It depicts Holbein's wife Elsbeth Binzenstock, their son Philipp and their daughter Katharina. Holbein painted it during his stay in Basel after his return from England. It was painted, between 1528 and 1529, on paper and glued on wood.
Portrait of the Painter Lovis Corinth is an oil-on-canvas painting by the German painter Max Liebermann, created in 1899. It depicts fellow German painter Lovis Corinth in a half-length portrait. The painting is in the possession of the Deutsche Bank, in Frankfurt.
Butcher Store in Schäftlarn on the Isar is a painting by the German painter Lovis Corinth from 1897. The picture shows a scene from the store of a slaughterhouse in Schäftlarn near Munich. It is held in the Kunsthalle Bremen.
Innocence is a painting created by the German painter Lovis Corinth in 1890. The picture depicts a semi-nude female and is owned by the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, in Munich.
Susanna in the Bath is an early painting by German painter Lovis Corinth, created in 1890 in his hometown of Königsberg. Corinth painted two slightly different versions of it, the first of which he exhibited at the Salon de Paris in 1891. The initial version, believed to be lost, was rediscovered in 2006 through a private auction. The better-known second version, however, has been part of the Museum Folkwang, in Essen, since 1966.
Self-Portrait with Skeleton is an oil on canvas painting by the German painter Lovis Corinth, from 1896. It is held in the Lenbachhaus, in Munich.
Young Woman with Cats is an oil on canvas painting by the German painter Lovis Corinth, from 1904. The person portrayed is Corinth's wife, Charlotte Berend, who was 24 years old at the time. The painter's signature can be found in the upper right corner of the canvas. It is held now in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.
Carmencita is an oil on canvas painting by the German painter Lovis Corinth, from 1924. It belongs to his expressionist phase and it was the last portrait of his wife, Charlotte Berend-Corinth, who appears dressed as a Spanish noblewoman, after a costume party. It is held in the Städel, in Frankfurt am Main, which acquired it in 1959.
The Self-Portrait with His Wife and a Glass of Champagne in the catalog raisonné, , is a painting by the German painter Lovis Corinth. The double portrait shows himself and his painting student and later wife Charlotte Berend, who is sitting on his lap with her upper body unclothed and is being embraced by him while he raises a glass. It was created as an engagement painting in Corinth's studio in Berlin in October 1902, a few months before the marriage of the two sitters. The painting, painted in oil on canvas and measuring 98.5 × 108.5 centimetres, is privately owned.
'The Red Christ is an oil on wood painting by the German painter Lovis Corinth, from 1922. It is a depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, belonging to his expressionist phase. The painting is signed and dated in yellow in two lines on the upper left: “Lovis Corinth 1922 ”. It is held in the Pinakothek der Moderne, in Munich.
The Portrait of the Artist's Uncle, Friedrich Corinth is a oil painting by the German painter Lovis Corinth. It is executed in portrait format on canvas and measures 98 × 79 centimeters. The portrait of his Ohm was created in 1900 during a visit by the artist to his uncle in Moterau in East Prussia. It was owned by the Corinth family until 1987, most recently by Wilhelmine Corinth in New York City. It was then purchased by the German federal government for the newly founded Ostpreußisches Landesmuseum, in Lüneburg, in whose collection it remains.