Walchensee in Winter, 1923

About the Work

Charlotte Berend-Corinth, the wife of the artist, said of this painting that it was "beautiful enough to drive you mad". It shows the transition between autumn and winter: the two trees in the foreground have not yet shed all of yellowish-red foliage even though snow has covered the mountains extending around the lake. The artist has used rapid brushstrokes to capture the scene, which is veiled in mist. The landscape around the Walchensee in Bavaria was the inspiration behind almost sixty of Corinth's paintings and numerous graphic works. The family owned a wooden chalet on the shores of the lake and they frequently spent time there from 1919 onwards.