Alexej von Jawlensky
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n expressionist painter active in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He was a key member of the New Munich Artist's Association (Neue Künstlervereinigung München
Neue Künstlervereinigung München
The Neue Künstlervereinigung München e.V , formed in 1909 in Munich around Wassily Kandinsky, and prefigured Der Blaue Reiter, the first modernist secession which is regarded as a forerunner and pathfinder for Modern art in 20th century Germany.-Historical background:The founding members were:...
), Der Blaue Reiter
Der Blaue Reiter
Der Blaue Reiter was a group of artists from the Neue Künstlervereinigung München in Munich, Germany. The group was founded by a number of Russian emigrants, including Wassily Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, and native German artists, such as Franz Marc, August Macke and...
(The Blue Rider) group and later the Die Blaue Vier (The Blue Four).
Life and work
Alexej von Jawlensky was born in TorzhokTorzhok
Torzhok is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia, famous for its folk craft of goldwork embroidery. Population: Torzhok has twenty-two large and medium-sized industrial enterprises. Two of them are especially significant...
, a town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in Tver Governorate, Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, as the fifth child of Georgi von Jawlensky and his wife Alexandra (née Medwedewa). At the age of ten he moved with his family to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. After a few years of military training, he became interested in painting, visiting the Moscow World Exposition circa 1880.
In 1896 he moved to Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, where he studied in the private school of Anton Ažbe
Anton Ažbe
Anton Ažbe was a Slovene realist painter and teacher of painting.Ažbe, crippled since birth and orphaned at the age of 8, learned painting as an apprentice to Janez Wolf and at the Academies in Vienna and Munich. At the age of 30 Ažbe founded his own school of painting in Munich that became a...
. In Munich he met Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely-abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics...
and various other Russian artists, and he contributed to the formation of the Neue Künstlervereinigung München
Neue Künstlervereinigung München
The Neue Künstlervereinigung München e.V , formed in 1909 in Munich around Wassily Kandinsky, and prefigured Der Blaue Reiter, the first modernist secession which is regarded as a forerunner and pathfinder for Modern art in 20th century Germany.-Historical background:The founding members were:...
. His work in this period was lush and richly coloured, but later moved towards abstraction and a simplified, formulaic style.
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
on 15 March 1941. He and his wife Helene are buried in the cemetery of St. Elizabeth's Church, Wiesbaden
St. Elizabeth's Church, Wiesbaden
The Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Elizabeth in Wiesbaden is the only Russian Orthodox church in Wiesbaden, Germany and is located on Neroberg. Besides the Russian church there is a parsonage and a Russian cemetery, which is the largest in Europe . St...
.
Legacy
In November 2003 his Schokko (Schokko mit Tellerhut) sold for US$ 8,296,000 and in February 2008 for GB£ 9,400,000 (US$ 18.4 million).The 2006 album by the jazz group Acoustic Ladyland
Acoustic Ladyland
Acoustic Ladyland are a London based jazz/punk band consisting of Pete Wareham on vocals, tenor and baritone saxophone, Seb Rochford on drums, Chris Sharkey on Guitar and Ruth Goller on bass guitar....
, Skinny Grin, features one of his works, Portrait of The Dancer Alexander Sacharoff, as its cover art.
Selected works
Jawlensky's works include:- Abend
- Woman with a Fan
- Symphony
- Hyacinth (c. 1902)
- Abstract HeadAbstract HeadAbstract Head is an oil painting by Russian expressionist Alexej von Jawlensky.At about the end of World War I , von Jawlensky started to draw 'mystic heads' or 'faces of saints'. He gave them poetic titles like Moonlight or Inner Look. Like Claude Monet who worked in series', he ended up...
- Heilandsgesicht: Nemesis II
- near Carantec
- with Flower Hat
External links
- Available Works & Biography Galerie Ludorff, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Biography of Alexej Georgewitsch von Jawlensky
- Information with links from the-artists.org
- Official Website