Peter Hille

Peter Hille (1902) portrays the bohemian German poet, a wandering, unconventional figure beloved in Berlin's literary circles. Hille was known for writing on scraps of paper carried loose in his pockets—a kind of inspired disorder that made him a legend among the city's artists and writers. Corinth's decision to paint him reflects the same impulse that drove him to portray dwarfs and circus performers: a deep interest in personalities who stood outside bourgeois norms. The Kunsthalle Bremen holds this canvas as testimony to Corinth's role as chronicler of Berlin's intellectual underworld, a role he shared with writers like Else Lasker-Schüler who also celebrated Hille's eccentric genius.

The portrait captures something of Hille's restless, unconventional personality through the informal pose and the directness of Corinth's engagement with the sitter's face. Paint is applied with rapid, energetic marks that suggest a swift sitting in keeping with the subject's nomadic character. The palette is relatively muted, focusing attention on the face and expression rather than setting or costume.