Interior with Woman 1917

Lovis Corinth made this intaglio print, likely in the early 20th century. It shows a woman seated in an interior space, and is rendered in a series of delicate yet assertive marks. I imagine Corinth with his etching needle, pushing into the plate, the image slowly emerging. I bet he was thinking about the way light falls, how it defines form, carves out the space. See how the lines darken to describe the shadow on the chair, giving her weight. The scratchy lines around her face, they give her character, a sense of presence. The woman’s gaze is direct, perhaps challenging. Her eyes are dark and intense, really captivating. It reminds me of Käthe Kollwitz, another German artist who captured raw emotion in her prints. There’s a connection there, these artists grappling with feeling and form, pulling feeling out of the darkness. I can imagine Corinth saying, ‘I’ll leave it to the viewer to decide her story.’ And that’s the beauty of art, isn’t it? It’s an invitation to bring your own story to the table.