Dame am Goldfischbassin (Lady at the goldfish basin) is an oil on canvas painting done by Lovis Corinth in 1911. It’s currently displayed at the Belvedere Palace in Vienna, Austria, which I visited in June of 2019. The painting sits beside the best of Gustav Klimt’s work (including The Kiss!) and one of five of the Napoleon am Großen St. Bernhard that I love so much. I’m not usually attracted to oil paintings, but I remembered this painting while thinking about my sustained investigation theme and I feel like it encapsulates it in a way I hadn’t thought of. My theme is home, I go about my pieces with the questions “What feels like home?” and “What do I want ‘home’ to feel like?”. This piece feels like the answer I want to both questions!
 |
| my photo of the paiting |
 |
me at the Belvedere in June 2019
with my favorite Napoleon painting |
The choice of medium, oils, is amazing for the soft daylight lighting of the reference. The oils keep the details on the sofa, plants, etc, from becoming too sharp and focused. The paint manipulation unifies the piece with soft yet solid shapes and colors.
Another thing I adore about the piece is the composition. It’s quite busy, there are many objects on the right half (fish tank, statue, window and curtains, framed photos, and various plants). The left half is clearer, only featuring a patterned sofa and the figure, but this draws the eye right into the figure (who is beautifully lit). It looks like a home I could see in real life. The composition is very casual, nothing looks posed, it feels very relaxed, warm and natural! I want to be able to do this with my art one day.
 |
| my hasty rendering of the colors |
I also really admire the colors used. The colors can be blocked into a mauv-ish red on the left, and green on the right. Red and green are complementary colors, and I love that the colors aren’t solid half-half. The green is seen in the red section in the curtains, the red can be seen in the green section in the flowers and fish. There’s also purples in both sections, like in the figure’s dress and the wall behind the plants, and this clearly ties it together like the bow on gift wrap.
At the Belvedere, the name card noted that the figure in the painting is Corinth’s own wife, and she happens to be the subject of many of his paintings. I don’t know much about Corinth besides this one painting, but there is such a clear love for his home and wife that comes through the piece. This place and situation is something that really brought Corinth joy and he was able to capture the emotion amazingly, and ultimately, that’s what I aim to do.
Comments
Post a Comment