Marianne von Werefkin

Galleria Castelnuovo, Ascona
Acquired from the heirs of the above by the present owners in 1991

Ascona, Galleria Castelnuovo, Marianne Werefkin, 1967, no. 13
Ascona, Galleria Castelnuovo, Marianne Werefkin, Olbilder, Gouachen, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen und Skizzen, 1972, no. 5, illustrated in the catalogue (titled Orchester)
Wiesbaden, Museum Wiesbaden, Marianne Werefkin - Gemälde und Skizzen, 1980, no. 59, illustrated in the catalogue
Ascona, Museo Communale d'Arte Moderna, Marianne Werefkin e i suoi Amici, 1988, no. 56, illustrated in the catalogue (titled Orchester)
Hanover, Sprengel Museum & Wuppertal, Von der Heydt-Museum, Garten der Frauen - Wegbereiterinnen der Moderne in Deutschland, 1900-1914, 1996-97, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

The Russian-born Marianne von Werefkin was the most important female member of Der Blaue Reiter movement, creating a distinctive style by assimilating the 'surface painting' of Paul Gauguin and Louis Anquetin with the ideals of Der Blaue Reiter, which included a desire to express spiritual truths through their art and a firm belief in the connection between visual art and music. The present work also reflects Werefkin's interest in the French Impressionist school, capturing urban entertainment venues such as operas, theatres and cafés as did Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edouard Manet.

Werefkin began her artistic career as a student of IIya Repin, the leading light of the Russian realist school. Following her meeting with Alexej von Jawlensky in 1892, she left the country in the company of the painter and travelled to Munich. Here Werefkin subordinated her own work to that of Jawlensky for close to a decade, and only began to produce her own Expressionist works in 1906-07. Over the next few years she became embroiled in the raft of artistic associations springing up in Germany at this time, first joining the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (New Association of Artists in Munich, NKVM), before abandoning this to join together with Jawlensky, Kandinsky and Münter's Der Blaue Reiter in 1912.