Death and the Young Man (Tod und Jüngling) from Dance of Death (Totentanz)

Art Historical Context

**Death and the Young Man (Tod Jüngling)** is etching by Lovis Corinth his 1921 *Dance of Death* (entanz) portfolio, in 1922. work is one of five softground etchings that revive the medieval Dance of Death allegory, which Death confronts people of every age and station as a reminder of life's transience. Made in the years just after World War I, the scene of Death facing a young man carried special weight in a Germany still reckoning with enormous loss. Lovis Corinth, a leading German painter and printmaker, moved from Impressionist light and color toward a more vigorous, expressive manner. Softground etching—using a pliable, waxy ground on wove paper—allowed him to create richly textured, fluid lines that feel almost like a drawing or painting. The technique heightens the drama and intimacy of the encounter. The modest plate (roughly 9½ by 7 inches) draws the viewer close to this timeless vanitas theme. Gifted to the National Gallery of Art in memory of Sigbert H. Marcy to honor the museum’s 50th anniversary, the print shows Corinth’s late mastery of graphic media and the enduring power of the Dance of Death tradition.

About the Artist

Lovis Corinth · 1858–1925

Lovis Corinth, born Franz Heinrich Louis on July 21, 1858, in Tapiau, East Prussia (now Gvardeysk, Russia), to a tanner father, displayed prodigious drawing talent from childhood. He began formal training at the Königsberg Academy in 1876, then moved to the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1880 to 1884, studying under Ludwig von Löfftz and briefly Franz von Defregger, where he absorbed a Realis...