Paddel-Petermannchen

Paddel-Petermannchen (1902), in the Landesmuseum Hannover, is a companion to Corinth's earlier Petermannchen and again features the dwarf performer Peter as subject. The title suggests a paddling or swimming context, placing the small figure in an incongruous setting that Corinth treats with the same earnest attention he would bring to any figure study. These repeated paintings of Peter reflect Corinth's genuine artistic interest beyond novelty, using a recurring sitter to explore how the body occupies and relates to its environment regardless of conventional expectations of physical normality. The series anticipates twentieth-century art's broader questioning of idealised figure types.

Corinth's brushwork remains characteristically assertive, building form through overlapping strokes rather than careful outline. The figure is treated with the same plastic seriousness as his mythological nudes, insisting on the full humanity of the sitter. The colour range is relatively restricted, with the figure standing out through tonal contrast against the surrounding space.