Eduard Graf von Keyserling

Eduard Graf von Keyserling (1900) portrays the Baltic German writer and aristocrat who moved in the same Munich artistic and literary circles as Corinth during the 1890s. Keyserling was known for his elegiac novellas of fading Baltic noble life and sardonic wit, making him an intriguing subject for Corinth's penetrating approach to portraiture. The portrait dates from just before Corinth's permanent move to Berlin and reflects the high standard of psychological portraiture he was bringing to the Munich art world. Now in the Neue Pinakothek, the work is one example of how Corinth used portrait commissions both to earn income and to document the intellectual world around him.

The sitter is rendered with characteristic directness: the face is painted with layered impasto that captures skin texture and physiognomy without idealisation. A dark neutral ground isolates the figure and focuses attention on the face and hands. Brushwork is loose in secondary areas and more controlled in the features, creating a convincing sense of presence.