Female Figure

Artist Lovis Corinth German, 1858–1925

Date1918

MediumWatercolor on paper

Dimensions13 1/8 x 10 in. (33.3 x 25.4 cm)
Frame: 18 3/4 x 14 3/4 x 1 3/4 in. (47.6 x 37.5 x 4.4 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineBequest of W. R. Valentiner

Object numberG.65.10.11

On View

Not on view

Label TextLovis Corinth was part of the Berlin Secession, a late nineteenth-century art movement formed by German-speaking artists, both within and outside of Berlin, who rejected the rigid conventions of traditional art salons and academies.

After Corinth suffered a stroke in 1911, his style became even more dynamic and emotionally charged, marked by looser brushwork and a shift toward expressionism. This transformation is especially visible in his watercolors, where fluid lines and softer, more diffuse brushstrokes give rise to figures with an ethereal quality.
[J. Ledesma, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," 2024]ProvenanceW. R. Valentiner, Los Angeles, CA, by August 1, 1952 [1][2]; W. R. Valentiner Estate, Raleigh, NC, 1958 [3]; to NCMA, by bequest, 1965.

[1] LACMA inventory, ca. 8/1/52, #12
[2] LACMA inventory, 8/27/54, #44
[3] L.58.12.85-VE
Published ReferencesThe Art Quarterly 26, no. 2 (Summer 1963), 275.

"Acquistions," North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 6, no. 4 and 7, no. 1 (1966/67?), listed 80.

A Catalogue of Drawings and Watercolors (exhibition catalogue) (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1969), cat. no. 13, illus. (b-w).

North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 17 (1997), listed and illus. (b-w) 91.
Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Drawings and Watercolors," Summer 1969, cat. no. 13, illus. (b-w).

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "John Brooks and German Expressionism," November 4, 2024-October 27, 2025. Object Rights Statement

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