Alexej von Jawlensky

Estate of the artist

Helene von Jawlensky, Wiesbaden

Andreas Jawlensky, Locarno (the artist's son)

Dalzell Hatfield Gallery, Los Angeles

Robert Simon, California

Sale: Christie's, London, December 2, 1975, lot 93

Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York

Acquired from the above circa 1977

Budapest, Nemzeti Szalon, A Futuristák és Expressionisták Kiállitásanak, 1913, no. 63

Hildesheim, Römermuseum, Vater und Sohn, 1925

Frankfurt, Kunstkabinett, Alexej von Jawlensky, 1947, no. 23

Basel, Galerie Beyeler, Alexej von Jawlensky, 1957, no. 31

Düsseldorf, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen & Hamburg, Kunstverein, Alexej von Jawlensky 1957, no. 50

Saarbrücken, Saarland-Museum, Zusatz-Blatt, 1957, no. 6

Bremen, Kunsthalle, Alexej von Jawlensky, 1957-58, no. 50

Stuttgart, Württenbergischer Kunstverein & Mannheim, Städtische Kunsthalle, Alexej von Jawlensky, 1958, no. 55

Locarno, Galleria La Palma, Alexej von Jawlensky, 1960, no. 7

Vienna, Östereichische Galerie & Linz, Neue Galerie der Stadt, Der Blaue Reiter und sein Kreis, 1961, no. 51, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Munich, Stadtische Galerie, Alexej von Jawlensky, 1964, no. 65, illustrated in the catalogue

Wiesbaden, Städtische Museum, Alexej von Jawlensky, 1964, no. 16

New York, Leonard Hutton Galleries, Alexej von Jawlensky, 1965, no. 22, illustrated in the catalogue

Los Angeles, Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, German Expressionists 1908-1968, 1968, illustrated on in color on the cover of the catalogue

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1970 (on loan)

New York, Leonard Hutton Galleries, Der Blaue Reiter und sein Kreis, 1977, no. 109, illutrated in color in the catalogue

Clemens Weiler, Alexej Jawlensky, Colonge, 1959, no. 109, illustrated p. 234

Clemens Weiler, Jawlensky Heads, Faces, Meditations, London, 1971, no. 119, listed p. 122

Maria Jawlensky, Lucia-Pietroni Jawlensky & Angelica Jawlensky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, Volume One 1890-1914, London, 1991, no. 471, illustrated p. 363

 

Very good condition. The board is stable, and the surface is in good condition, with rich surface texture. There is some wear at the extreme lower right and left edges, particularly at the corners. Under UV light, there is a 1/2-inch retouched loss at the lower-left edge and a 1/4-inch retouched loss in the red of the figure's hand. There are a few spots of old retouching at lower right, possibly by the artist. Otherwise, this work is in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Pulsating with vibrant color and rich, painterly detail, Frau mit grünem Fächer exemplifies Jawlensky's talents as a key figure in Expressionism.  This exceptional composition dates from 1912, at the height of the artist's involvement with the Blaue Reiter, and is a distillation of the varied stylistic concerns that preoccupied the Russian ex-patriot and German avant-garde during the early 20^th century.   Jawlensky would always return to the face as a means to explore the range of human emotion throughout his career.   Although we know that the model for the present work was Helene, the artist's wife, Jawlensky preferred anonymous titles for his works so that he could express objectively the power and impact of color.   "[H]uman faces are for me only suggestions to see something else in them – the life of colour, seized with a lover's passion" (quoted in C. Weiler, Jawlensky Heads, Faces, Meditations, London, 1971, p. 12). 

Frau mit grünem Fächer reflects the stylistic influences that shaped Jawlensky's art and contributed to the development of German Expressionist painting.  In 1912, Jawlensky was living in Munich and working closely with fellow Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky of the independent artist group known as "Neue Künstlervereinigung".  That same year, Kandinsky founded Der Blaue Reiter, an arts periodical that promoted the ideas of this new group and expounded on the value of color and the aesthetic influences of Eastern European folk art and the religious idolotry of the Russian Orthodox church (fig. 4).   Jawlensky was greatly affected by the ideas of his colleagues, and developed his own expressive style of painting using bold color patches and strong black outlines.    The present work is a stunning example of his new style and exemplifies the concerns of this wave of German Expressionism.

Jawlensky's reliance upon color as a means of visual expression derived from the examples of the Fauve painters of France.  Jawlensky first met these artists, including Henri Matisse (fig. 2) and Kees van Dongen, shortly after the Fauves' premiere exhibition at the Salon d'Automne in 1905.  He was inspired by their wild coloration and expressive brushwork, and between 1909-1911 the works of these artists had a profound impact on his painting.  Like Matisse, who famously remarked, "I used color as a means of expressing my emotion and not as a transcription of nature", Jawlensky believed that color communicated the complex emotions of his subjects (Jacqueline & Maurice Guillaud, Matisse: Rhythm and Line, New York, 1987, p. 24). 

Another important influence on Jawlensky's painting during this period was the multi-dimensional approach of the Cubists, whose fragmented and highly abstract compositions he had seen in Paris (fig. 3).  As Clemens Weiler has noted, "Cubism... supplied Jawlensky with the means of simplifying, condensing and stylizing the facial form even further, and this simplified and reduced shape he counterbalanced by means of even more intense and brilliant colouring.  This enabled him to give these comparatively small heads a monumentality and expressive power that were quite independent of their actual size" (C. Weiler, op. cit., p.105).

Spending the summer of 1911 at Prerow on the Baltic, Jawlensky reached a pinnacle in his career in which he synthesized his reaction to these artistic movements into a personal and unique artistic expression.  As Weiler describes, "For him that summer meant the first climax in his creative development. His colours grow as if seen in a state of ecstasy and his shapes are bound powerfully together with broad outlines" (ibid., p. 14).

Frau mit grünem Fächer is a product of this creative outburst.  In the present work, the artist employs a color palette of bright blue, red and green and renders the facial features of his sitter with broad strokes. The model in this instance is known, but Jawlensky was concerned less by the realistic portrayal of his subject than with capturing the emotional impact of the composition as a whole.  In three-quarter profile, the figure turns her head to the viewer in what seems to be a singular and passing moment.  Her powerful gaze captures the viewer's attention, and her bright eyes create a provocative focal point for the entire picture.  As he once wrote to a prominent art collector, "What you feel in front of my paintings is that which you must feel, and so it seems to you that my soul has spoken to yours – therefore it has spoken" (James Demetrion, Alexei Jawlensky: A Centennial Exhibition, Pasadena Art Museum, 1964, p. 22).

Jawlensky kept Frau mit grünem Fächer in his private collection until his death in 1941, at which time it was inherited by his wife and son, Andreas.  At a later point, the picture was acquired by Robert Simon, the son of legendary collector Norton Simon, whose eponymous museum is located in Pasadena, California.