Alexej von Jawlensky

Alexander & Clotilde Sacharoff, Munich & Rome (a gift from the artist)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Milan, Palazzo Reale, Alexej von Jawlensky, 1995, no. 26, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Bremen, Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, Cologne, Deutsches Tanzarchiv Köln & Munich, Museum Villa Stuck, Die Sacharoffs. Zwei Tänzer aus dem Umkreis des Blauen Reiters, 2002-03, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Ascona, Museo communale d'arte moderna, Marianne Werefkin a Murnau. Arte e teoria, Amici e maestri, 2003, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Milan, Fondazione Mazzotta, Il Cavaliere Azzurro - Kandinsky, Marc e i loro amici, 2003-04, no. 6, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Jawlensky's painting Murnau, executed in 1910, is a beautiful depiction of Murnau and the surrounding Bavarian countryside where one of the most influential groups of artists gathered to create a new way of painting and eventually change the course of history of art. Wassily Kandinsky, Gabriele Münter, Marianne von Werefkin and Alexej von Jawlensky moved to Murnau in 1908 (fig. 1) and enjoyed the stunning landscape surrounding the small town. The present work captures the mountains, the river and the small houses in Murnau in the most vivid colours. Strongly influenced by the Fauve artists such as Matisse, Derain and Vlaminck, Jawlensky created a beautiful celebration of Murnau and the Bavarian mountain landscape in the present painting.

The way the painter applied his brushstrokes as well as the composition of the picture is reminiscent of one the most important series of landscape paintings - the views of the mountain Sainte-Victoire in Provence by Paul Cézanne. Jawlensky appears to have adopted the same approach to his Bavarian mountains in the present work. Cézanne, the 'father of Modern Painting', has been admired for his unique und bold approach to painting by an entire generation of artists, including Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Not only the broad brushstrokes and colour patches in the present work seem to recall the brushwork in Cézanne's paintings such as La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue de Bibémus (now in the Baltimore Museum of Art), but also the way Jawlensky placed the tree on the right edge of the painting appears to remind one of Cézanne's La Montagne Sainte-Victoire au grand pin (fig. 5).

Although executed in a Post-Impressionist and Cézannesque manner, the painter created his own view of Murnau and the
mountains in Bavaria and brought the subject matter into the 20^th Century by using a bright and colourful palette. His bold Expressionist approach to the subject matter was also inspired by the colour-rich landscapes of the Fauve artists (fig 3). Murnau and the area near the Bavarian town became one of the key subject matters of the group around Jawlensky and Kandinsky after they moved there in 1908 (figs. 2 & 4).

Jawlensky and Kandinsky exhibited with the Fauve painters in Paris at the legendary 1905 Salon d'Automne where the artists of that movement showed their works for the first time and the name 'wild beasts' (fauves) was coined. Cézanne also exhibited paintings at the same Salon so Jawlensky not only encountered works by artists such as Vlaminck and Matisse, but also by the 'father of Modern Painting'. Both influences undoubtedly appear to be reflected in the present work. In the same year as Murnau was painted, the avant-garde group Neue Künstlervereinigung München (New Aristists' Society Munich) whose president was Kandinsky, organised an exhibition showing works by a number of international artists such as George Braque, André Derain, Kees van Dongen, Pablo Picasso and Maurice de Vlaminck. The exhibition took place at the Galerie Thannhauser in Munich which also staged the first exhibition of the Blaue Reiter group in December 1911. This exhibition examplified the influence of the French avant-garde on the art of Jawlensky and Kandinsky.

The present work was a gift from Jawlensky to his friends the avant-garde dancers, Alexander and Clotilde Sacharoff. Jawlensky's world-famous 1909 portrait of Alexander Sacharoff (fig. 6), now part of the permanent collection of the Lenbachhaus in Munich, was also a gift to Sacharoff and a sign of his close friendship to the ballet dancer. The Sacharoffs became friends with all the artists of the Blaue Reiter group, but formed an especially strong bond to Jawlensky and his art. The fiery colours in Jawlensky's portrait of Sacharoff reflect the dancer's flamboyant character and appearance and traits which are also reflected in the present landscape.