Alexej von Jawlensky

Alexej von Jawlensky's artistic path and work are closely connected with his living conditions. As an officer of the Tsarist army, he began his painting training in St. Petersburg under Marianne von Werefkin. He went with her to Munich, met Kandinsky, travelled to Paris and was exposed to the influence of Matisse and the artist group "Les Fauves". His expressionist works are subject to coarse brushstrokes and colorful compositions. His attachment to Russian culture is also reminiscent of icon painting with his abstract heads, which he created from 1918 onwards. Between abstraction and figuration, these mystically spiritualized human faces are characteristic of Jawlensky. Furthermore, his arthritis was the reason for his even more abstract small-format "meditations" from 1934 until his death.