Weiblicher Akt in Abwehr (Female Nude Defending Herself)

The composition captures a woman mid‑movement, one arm lifted as if to ward off an unseen force, while the opposite arm bends with a clenched hand. The twisted torso and shifted weight convey a sense of self‑preservation, inviting viewers to consider the psychological undercurrents of vulnerability and resistance.

Executed as a lithograph, Corinth employs rapid, gestural strokes that prioritize mass and energy over fine detail. The absence of background and the reliance on bold, sweeping lines reflect his post‑stroke shift toward a more expressionistic approach, where form is driven by emotional intensity rather than precise rendering.

Corinth, born in 1858, trained in Paris and Munich before becoming a leading figure in the Berlin Secession. After a stroke in 1911 altered his artistic direction, he produced a series of prints that explored new expressive possibilities. This work, signed and dated 1913, belongs to that later period and exemplifies his engagement with printmaking.

The early 1910s saw German artists grappling with modernist currents and the aftermath of personal crises. Corinth’s lithograph aligns with contemporary explorations of the nude as a vehicle for psychological inquiry, situating the piece within broader debates about the body, identity, and the evolving language of expressionism.