Petermannchen

Petermannchen (1902) is one of several paintings Corinth made using a dwarf performer named Peter as his subject. These works reflect his taste for unconventional subjects drawn from Berlin's circus and variety-show world, which flourished in the Wilhelmine capital. Now in the Jewish Museum Berlin, the canvas is notable for Corinth's unflinching, non-sentimentalising treatment of his sitter—Peter is presented as a full personality rather than a curiosity. Corinth had settled permanently in Berlin in 1901, and the city's vivid popular culture fed directly into his choice of subjects, marking a break from the classical mythologies and bourgeois portraits that had dominated his Munich years.

Corinth's characteristically energetic brushwork renders the figure with rapid, loaded strokes that build surface texture and psychological presence simultaneously. The handling of the face is particularly direct, avoiding flattery while achieving empathetic likeness. The palette mixes cool neutrals in the background with warmer flesh tones, and paint is applied with evident physical confidence.