Bäume mit Sonne (Trees in the Sun) 1920 - 1921

Editor: We are looking at Lovis Corinth’s "Trees in the Sun" created between 1920 and 1921. It’s an etching, a print. It strikes me as quite stark, almost desolate, despite the title. What draws your attention to this piece? Curator: The way Corinth deploys etching to replicate and disseminate this scene is crucial. Consider the acid, the plate, the press – tools of reproduction shaping our view of nature. He's not just depicting trees; he's using a material process to make nature reproducible and thus, in a way, consumable. Do you notice the lines? Editor: Yes, they seem almost chaotic, like a jumble of scratches. Curator: Exactly! Look at the relationship between the labor involved in creating those lines and the social context of post-World War I Germany. Corinth, like many Expressionists, was grappling with a world shattered by industrial warfare. The "chaotic" lines, etched and repeatable, mirror that sense of disruption and the anxieties surrounding mechanized production. Does that shift your interpretation? Editor: It does. So, it’s not just a landscape; it's a commentary on industrial society’s impact, made manifest in the materials and method of its creation? Curator: Precisely. The "sun" becomes less about warmth and light, and more about the relentless energy – both destructive and productive – that defines the era and imprints itself onto both landscape and artmaking. Editor: It’s fascinating to think about the physical process encoding the social anxieties of the time. I'll definitely look at prints differently now. Curator: And consider how printmaking democratizes access to art, potentially implicating a wider audience in these social concerns. Food for thought!