Porträt des Vaters Franz Heinrich Corinth mit Brief

Lovis Corinth's 1887 portrait of his father Franz Heinrich Corinth with a letter is an early work by a painter who would become one of the great figures of German Expressionism. Corinth was then a young student in Munich and Paris, and this portrait of his father — a successful tanner in East Prussia — is a direct, emotionally engaged image that combines careful observation with the psychological directness that would characterize his mature portraiture. The letter in the father's hands suggests literacy and civic participation, presenting the self-made businessman as a man of consequence.

The young Corinth renders his father with a direct, confident handling that already suggests his later expressionist power. The figure is firmly modeled, with careful attention to the aged face and the particular quality of indoor light. The palette is relatively dark but warm, with the letter providing a compositional accent.