Alexej Georgewitsch von Jawlensky (13 March 1864 – 15 March 1941) was a Russian expressionist painter active in Germany. He was a key member of the New Munich Artist's Association (Neue Künstlervereinigung München), Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) group and later the Die Blaue Vier (The Blue Four).

Life and work

Alexej von Jawlensky was born in Torzhok, a town in Tver Governorate, Russia, 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. After a few years of military training, he became interested in painting, visiting the Moscow World Exposition c. 1880.

In 1894 he moved to Munich, where he studied in the private school of Anton Ažbe. In Munich he met Wassily Kandinsky and various other Russian artists, and he contributed to the formation of the Neue Künstlervereinigung München. His work in this period was lush and richly coloured, but later moved towards abstraction and a simplified, formulaic style.

Von Jawlensky died in Wiesbaden, Germany, on 15 March 1941. He and his wife Helene are buried in the cemetery of St. Elizabeth's Church, Wiesbaden.

Legacy

In November 2003 his Schokko (Schokko mit Tellerhut) sold for US$ 9,296,000 and in February 2008 for GB£ 9,450,000 (US$ 18.43 million).

The 2006 album by the jazz group Acoustic Ladyland, Skinny Grin, features one of his works, Portrait of The Dancer Alexander Sacharoff, as its cover art.

The five CD's issued by CPO with the complete string quartets by the Polish composer Mieczysław Weinberg (1919–1996), and played by the Quatuor Danel, all have a female portrait by von Jawlensky on their cover. Volume 1 shows "Frauenbildnis" (1909). Volume 2 has "Kind mit blauen Augen". Volume 3 has "Weiblicher Kopf" (1912). Volume 4 has "Spanierin" (1911). And volume 5 shows "Mädchen mit Haube" (1910).

Works

Paintings by von Jawlensky are displayed in galleries and museums around the world. The Museum Ostwall in Dortmund, Germany, maintains a collection of exceptional depth.[1]

Representative works

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  Schokko with Red Hat, 1909

   

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  Portrait of Alexander Sakharoff, 1909

   

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  Schokko with Wide Brimmed Hat, 1910

   

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  Violet Turban, 1911

   

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  Self-Portrait, 1912

   

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  Head in Blue, 1912

   

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  Savior's Face: Martyr, 1919

   

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  Astonishment, 1919, Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California

   

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  Abstract Head, c. 1928

   

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  Abstract Head, c. 1932

   

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  Meditation, 1934

   

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  Meditation, 1936