Alexej von Jawlensky – Encouragement from Marianne von Werefkin
Alexej von Jawlensky was born in Torschok in the Russian Empire on 25 March 1865. The son of an officer, he was intended to join his brothers in a military career. However, a visit to the All-Russia Exhibition in Moscow in 1882, ignited his passion for painting, which he indulged through prolonged visits to the Tretjakov Gallery and brilliant accomplishments in drawing classes. However, the sudden death of his father and the associated financial hardship prevented him from attending a painting school and he instead had to make do with evening classes at the Russian Art Academy, which he pursued alongside his military service. The Russian Realist painter, Ilja Jefimowitsch Repin, introduced Jawlensky to Marianne von Werefkin, four years his senior; the general’s daughter and Expressionist painter had great compassion for the young artist and took him under her wing. A love affair ensued, and the couple moved to Munich.
Fruitful years in Munich and friendship with Kandinsky
Alexej von Jawlensky moved ever further from the model of Repin’s naturalistic painting. The Netherlandic masters Vincent van Gogh and Kees van Dongen exerted a great influence on his painting style, whilst the French currents of the Navis and Fauvists also had an impact. Further impulses came from Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse as well as Japanism which left traces in his work from 1904. In Munich, Jawlensky made friends with fellow countrymen Wassily Kandinsky and his partner Gabriele Münter. The two couples, Jawlensky-Werefkin and Kandinsky-Münter spent a lot of time together, mostly filled with fruitful collaborative work. Jawlensky and Kandinsky, in particular, shared an esoteric interest in painting which placed more importance on the essence of things than their outward representation. When Kandinsky founded the Blaue Reiter with Franz Marc, Jawlenky didn’t officially join the group, but participated in their exhibitions. The First World War forced Jawlensky and Werefkin to leave Germany and they fled to Switzerland for a number of years. The majority of their work remained, but was preserved by a painter friend, Cuno Amiet.
Art as a world of its own, far from nature
Alexej von Jawlensky eventually separated from Marianne von Werefkin after he had long been in a relationship with their maid Helene Nesnakomoff, who had given birth to his son, Andreas Jawlensky, whilst still underage. In terms of his art, Jawlensky found a new patron, Galka Scheyer, who demanded 45% of his income as commission. In 1924, he joined the group Die Blaue Vier in Wiesbaden, to which his friends Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Lyonel Feininger also belonged. From 1927, rheumatoid arthritis began to affect Jawelnsky’s ability to work immensely, with repeated medical treatment necessary, and increasing reliance on help to paint his pictures, for which the artists Lisa Kümmel and Alo Altripp stood by his side. With Jawlensky devoting himself mainly to the depiction of abstract human faces in his later years, it was Alo Altripp with gave the artist the epithet “iconic painter of the 20th century”. Jawlensky’s last series of works were the Meditations. Complete paralysis through his illness finally brought his work to a halt. Under the National Socialists, Alexej von Jawlensky was considered a ‘degenerate artist’ and was banned from exhibiting.
Alexej von Jawlensky died in Wiesbaden in Germany on 15 March 1941.
Alexej von Jawlensky - Works that have already been sold at Kunsthaus Lempertz:
Alexej von Jawlensky -
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