BERLIN.- To mark the 100th anniversary of Lovis Corinth’s death, the Alte Nationalgalerie is shedding light on the fates of those works by the artist and his wife, the painter Charlotte Berend-Corinth, in the Nationalgalerie’s collection. The exhibition focuses on the diverse provenances of each artwork. The Nationalgalerie’s holdings are supplemented by reproductions of paintings that found their way to other museums as a result of the Nazis’ “Degenerate Art” campaign.

Lovis Corinth (1858–1925) is considered one of the most important representatives of German Impressionism, alongside Max Liebermann and Max Slevogt. With more than twenty oil paintings—including many large- format works—the Nationalgalerie holds an extensive and significant collection of his art. Yet the paths these works took into the Nationalgalerie’s collection are often marked by loss and partial restitution: in 1937, during the Nazi era, many of them were confiscated as “degenerate.” Some were unexpectedly returned in 1939, while others were only reacquired much later, and still others were sold at the time and can now be found in museums and private collections in Germany and abroad.

To compensate for these losses, additional paintings by Corinth and his wife, Charlotte Berend-Corinth (1880–1967), were acquired in both West and East Germany after 1945. These later acquisitions have raised further questions of provenance, which are likewise addressed in the exhibition.

Until September 28, 2025, visitors to the exhibition will also have the opportunity to explore Corinth’s rich print and drawing oeuvre in a dedicated room. The Nationalgalerie also collected drawings by the artist, which have been part of the Kupferstichkabinett's holdings since 1992. Some of these drawings were likewise affected by the Nazi confiscation campaign of 197. By that year, more than 300 prints by him had also entered the Kupferstichkabinett's collection --- 28 of which were confiscated as "degenerate.” The Kupferstichkabinett’s presentation also includes three works by Charlotte Berend-Corinth.

The provenances of all works by Lovis Corinth and Charlotte Berend- Corinth in the Nationalgalerie’s collection have been thoroughly researched by the Zentralarchiv over many years and in a range of projects. The Zentralarchiv regards itself as the “historical memory” of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and as a center for investigation. Provenance research across the museums is managed and coordinated from here. At the same time, the Nationalgalerie’s collection has formed a central focus of investigation from the very beginning. The results of this often invisible research into the origin stories of works by Lovis Corinth and Charlotte Berend-Corinth are at the heart of this exhibition. It traces the complex paths artworks have taken into and out of the museum and highlights the important role of provenance research in the history of the National- galerie’s collection. The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual flyer and a free audio guide, both available in German and English. The audio guide expands the thematic tour “Artworks and Their Histories. Understanding the Clues” to include 10 works by Lovis Corinth and Charlotte Berend-Corinth.

The exhibition is curated by Dieter Scholz, curator at the Alte Nationalgalerie; Andreas Schalhorn, curator at the Kupferstichkabinett; Sven Haase, research associate for provenance research at the Zentralarchiv; and Petra Winter, director of the Zentralarchiv of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; with the support of Stefanie Meisgeier and Ana Nasyrova, curatorial assistants, Alte Nationalgalerie.