Through my studies, I came across an artist worth a look. This is one of the first Expressionists, of Russian origin, which has always been overshadowed by the personality of Kandinsky, much stronger than his. Despite this, Alexej von Jawlensky hit me and I'm not saying just because it was one of my first presentations on a painter, but because his paintings have a melancholy, a really interesting insight of emotion. " L’arte è nostalgia di Dio ”, una citazione che riassume il suo pensiero sull’arte, il suo costante legame con la natura e tutto ciò che è tangibile. Jawlnsky non giunge mai all’astrattismo, anche se la carica spirituale, che verso la fine della sua carriera si trasformerà in quasi-religious meditation, many of his works will look similar to this genre. .
Alexej von Jawlensky born in Russia in 1864. It comes from an aristocratic family, of German origin. His father was a colonel in the army and he and his brothers have started a military career. In 1880, visit the 'World Exhibition in Moscow and this will be his first real encounter with art. Jawlensky become captain of the Imperial Guard in St. Petersburg, but in the meantime, in 1882, will also attend the Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied painting and drawing. The academic literature, however, did not satisfy him much, so much to say, "Ten years of Academy makes an artist an idiot " exemplary sentence!
In this time as teachers will have a Swedish painter Anders Zorn , still connected to the realistic rendering of subjects, and Ilya Repin , his teacher at the Academy, it is a very famous painter in Russia, also working for Tsar Nicholas II. E 'with Repin who knows Marianne von Werefkin and will create an artistic partnership nearly three decades, in which the painter, who probably will also to its economic livelihood, putting at the moment by his talent in painting, will create a community of artists of various disciplines, a little 'anticipating what will Kandinsky.
in recent years of the nineteenth century with the Werefkin moved to Monaco and attends a school Private painting directly from Anton Azbè, knows where Kandinsky.
There will come then Paris here and will be influenced by the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh . Thanks to the knowledge of his paintings, and brighten the palette for a while 't use the ECHNICAL Pointilism. America so much to buy Van Gogh in 1908, "The House of Pere Pilon " by means of many sacrifices .
Among those who prefer, there are still lifes, along with landscapes and portraits, his distaste for abstraction lies in the personal need to synthesis between the inner world and the external between the natural and expressive model of its colors, creating balance among them and form.
But contacts with the artistic world that marked the end of the nineteenth century is not yet complete. In 1902 he exhibited at Salon d'Automne with Fauves, the Expressionists, French. He returned in 1905 and know Matisse che lo inviterà a lavorare nel suo atelier. Inoltre visiterà mostre di Gauguin e Cèzanne .
Nel 1909 a Monaco Jawlensky, insieme a Kandinsky, la Werefkin, Adolf Erbslöh , but also musicians, art historians, writers and dancers, will base Association of New Art Monaco . Assessing the composition of the group, as it may deem this association is not simply an anticipation of the intent of the objectives of Blue Rider the famous expressionist group led by Kandinsky . The exhibitions will be hosted by the group Thannhauser gallery and will also open in 1910 with French art artists like Picasso , Braque , Derain .
Franz Marc writes: " In Monaco, the first and only serious representatives of the new ideas were two Russians, living for years in that city, where he had worked alone and in silence, until some Germans joined them. With the founding of the Neue Vereinigung began those special, beautiful exhibitions that were destined to become the despair of critics . (The Blue Rider). The two Russians who are changing the art world are Kandinsky and Jawlensky, friends and colleagues for some time.
In 1911 we will be his first solo show in September to October in Ruhmeshalle to Barmen . Unfortunately the following year experience with the New Artists' Association of Monaco is coming to an end. Even after the exhibition of 1910, which had participated in the French, had created tension within the group so that Kandinsky and Marc came out. In 1912 there is a break with Jawlensky and Marianne von Werefkin, that will join the experience of Blaue Reiter .
 |
| Mediterranean Sea Coast |
Jawlensky not declare never to be part of the Blue Knight, but participate in its exhibitions, the first in December of 1911 and the second in 1912. In '13 the Blaue Reiter in Berlin will be exhibiting with 360 works.
To analyze one of the topics addressed by Jawlensky, the landscape , one can observe " Coast Mediterranean Sea; . we begin with a declaration of Jawlensky " work of art is a world unto itself, not an imitation of nature . For Jawlensky it was important to provide a summary between what his eyes could grasp the inner nature and its vision of itself, taking into consideration such as rope and managed to tap such sensations could be translated to the line and color. By analyzing the chromatic aspect of the painting in question, you can see the backgrounds of pure color to very narrow strokes. We can divide the painting into two parts: the first consists of two horizontal bands, clearly separate, primary colors, yellow and blue, side by side so as to reinforce each other, and the second is characterized da un paesaggio roccioso reso con pennellate meno rigide rispetto al cielo e al mare, dove il rosso è affiancato al verde, suo colore complementare. Non c’è senso di profondità, non sono modellati i volumi, ma è evidente una importante caratteristica coloristica di Jawlensky, chiarita dalla citazione: “ Le tele erano incandescenti di colori. Ed io ero soddisfatto nel mio intimo ”.
 |
| Solitudine |
 |
| Colline |
Interessante notare come altri due paesaggi del 1912, in pieno Blaue Reiter, sono nella forma sostanzialmente simili: l’utilizzo della linea di contorno, i colori primari e i loro complementari accostati, le colline che digradano in giallo, rosso e blu, la pennellata visibile, le campiture larghe, i piani di profondità accostati ma non modellati, l’aspetto monumental although it is small sizes. In fact the title of the first painting, "Solitude ", is symbolic value in its interior, representing a state of mind, combining nature, the outside world with the interior so obvious.
 |
| Still life with vase and pitcher |
Speaking of still lifes , " Still life with vase and pitcher " leads us to reconsider lesson Matisse sober for the decorative lines, which mark the edges of objects and bright coloring, especially red and blue, going on this painting, the position of these colors is a kind of artistic goal for Jawlensky. It will say " Apples, trees, human faces are only indications to see something else, the life of color, as we seize the moment an enthusiast, a lover . "
 |
| Alexander Sacharoff |
The portrait best known artist is dedicated to Alexander Sacharoff , which revolved in the Blaue Reiter per quanto riguardava la danza. Sacharoff è ritratto in una posa morbida, aggraziata, a tradire la sua professione probabilmente. L’abito è reso con una grande campitura rossa con un contorno nero, che rivela solo la sagoma; l’ombra alle spalle del ballerino è di colore verde. Il volto è sintetizzato, appuntito, lasciando lo spettatore libero di concentrar si sullo sguardo ambiguo.
 |
| La piuma bianca |
“La piuma bianca” , altro ritratto, sembra dare più respiro ad una resa della figura umana più piatta, più disegnata, complice l’abito blu scuro, indossato dalla donna, che non permette di individuare i dettagli delle maniche; il braccio sinistro spunta quasi improvvisamente a mostrare la mano che regge un ventaglio. Mi è sembrato ravvisabile una certa somiglianza con i disegni per manifesti e copertine di Toulouse-Lautrec, show that such an approach.
Another peculiarity of Jawlensky is to use a more square format, especially in the portraits, which always retain the features so far observed. And 1912 to mark this change, which are just visible behind the subjects. The faces are more synthetic, more features sketched in, as to be comparable to the masks demonic in which the eyes become circles and spirited.
evolution Pictures Jawlensky proceeds much faster than in the other favorite subjects. In 1913, changed again the way to make his face, leaving the heads preferring the oval and round, with a reference to Byzantine icons, betraying his Russian-born, taking refuge in this scheme clearly defined. Stresses more clearly the eyes and eyebrows.
 |
| Head abstract |
The reference to icons, used in religious ceremonies, takes us back to one of the latest changes of his art, now out of time Blaue Reiter. The 1914, the outbreak of World War for Jawlensky mean exile in Switzerland, carrying only a suitcase, having had, like all foreign 48 hours to leave Germany. Suffer from this very situation, and from this year, his text assumes the values \u200b\u200bof meditation, sacred, intimate, bringing us to the consideration of art as a longing for God will draw up the mystical texts, the Meditations and Faces of the Saviour. The mass-produce, along with the changes, much more dedicated to the landscape, and heads abstract, developed from a cross pattern .
Jawlwnsky ha prodotto anche un corpus di disegni di una certa rilevanza , nella maggior parte perduti: volti, nudi e anche caricature di sé stesso. Era anche un collezionista di dipinti contadini su vetro, di piccole dimensioni, tipici Murnau and his friend Kansinsky knew them very well, as many sketches for the cover of the almanac Der Blaue Reiter had just been made on glass. After all, many of his paintings can be treated as windows, contours and bright colors outlined.
His art has found disciples, his street was absolutely individual, marked dall'autocontrollo e dalla riflessione. Il significato della sua opera, però, è sempre stato chiaro: la sua arte è una riflessione sull’arte stessa, la sua concezione è quella di chi va alla ricerca di ordine e alla fine tutto diventa un colloquio strettamente intimo.
Nel 1937 anche lui entra a far parte, non per suo volere, della mostra denigratoria "Degenerate Art" with 72 works, an event that will get them a lot of pain.
A from 1929 onwards, will manifest the 'deforming arthritis who first force them to paint with a brush tied to his hand, then, in 1938, the lead to complete paralysis, until his death in 1941 in Wiesbaden.
Jawlensky is a little known artist, in part because of his character, in part because he shared the stage with Kandinsky, much more exhibitionist of all, perhaps even authoritarian.
I find that his work is full of introspection only non-violent non-blatant, distant and self-celebration of dall'autocommiserazione Kirchner. It seemed to me just show it in all its glory, considering his unjust still live in the shadow of his colleagues.
