Landscape at the Walchensee

In 1918, Corinth and his family spent their first summer in Urfeld am Walchensee in the Bavarian Alps. “Lovis was immediately gripped by the beauty of the landscape – the magic of Walchensee, the mountains, the light and the air,” wrote his wife, Charlotte, in her memoirs. The couple decided to build their hideaway home on a hill above Urfeld, which was completed within just one year. Of the approximately 250 oil paintings painted by Corinth in his last years, sixty can be attributed to his time on the Walchensee. Also the subject of several other works, the Hotel Fischer am See and its surroundings were illustrated from a top down view in this 1923 version. Set just after sunset, the scene is depicted with subdued colors. The light that remains in the sky is reflected in a silvery glimmer that plays upon the surface of the lake. The image conjures a remarkably strong visual tension, which is to be expected from Corinth’s temperament. Deliberately disregarding the laws of perspective, Corinth slanted the axis of the image to one side and, by using light and dark contrasts, was able to render a memorable atmosphere.