Gathering Lovis Corinth's articles from various art periodicals and Berlin newspapers, this collection features reminiscences of his boyhood in East Prussia, an essay on etching, a rumination on his travels to Italy, his inaugural lecture as president of the Berlin Secession (a modernist exhibiting society), and his thoughts on contemporary German art. The book also includes eight black-and-white lithographs by Corinth portraying Berlin monuments, the frescoes at the Campo Santo in Pisa, the death mask of socialist leader Karl Liebknecht, and German paintings the artist admired. This range of themes hints at the varied subjects and styles Corinth addressed throughout his long and prolific career.

PUBLISHING HISTORY

After World War I, when there was limited access to canvas and a declining market for expensive oil paintings, Corinth turned increasingly to printmaking for its financial promise. He collaborated closely with Wolfgang Gurlitt, a Berlin dealer who also published prints and illustrated books by Expressionists and other leading artists. Upon this book's publication, Corinth wrote to Karl Schwarz, the author of the first catalogue raisonné of his prints, saying, "Overall it’s nice, but actually I don’t like it. Hopefully it will sell well. That’s the most important thing."