VLADIMIR GEORGIEVICH BEKHTEEV | AUTUMN ALLEY

In 1902 on the advice of Sergei Jawlensky, brother of Alexei, Vladimir Bekhteev left his native Russia and travelled via Venice to Munich, where he entered the private painting and drawing school run by Heinrich Knirr. Living with Alexei Jawlensky in the bohemian quarter of Schwabing, the artist quickly assimilated into the city’s artistic and literary circles. ‘The highly intellectual and artistic atmosphere of this house, created by the freethinking Marianna Vladimirovna and the gifted Jawlensky, attracted talented people. But for me it was a cosy house of friends where I could expect warm hospitality and sincere interest in my work, which both relaxed and encouraged me’ – recalled Bekhteev.

Besides the artists meetings at Jawlensky’s house, Bekhteev also frequented the legendary café Kathi Kobus which attracted various personalities affiliated with the satirical Simplicissimus magazine. It was here that the new art was born, and their ideas became crucial for the development of the young artist. It did not take long for Bekhteev to win recognition after his works were acquired by Adolf Erbslöh, an avant-garde figure and one of the founders of the Munich New Association of Artists – an independent exhibiting society regarded as a forerunner and pathfinder for Modern art in 20th-century Germany. However, the artist’s time in the country was soon interrupted by the First World War – conscripted into the Russian army, Bekhteev never did come back to Munich.

Executed in the first decade of the twentieth century Autumn Alley is a rare and fine example of Bekhteev’s early German period. In these compositions the artist’s dynamic brushstrokes, painterly textures and attention to light and colour demonstrate influences of late Impressionism and Van Gogh, whose work had begun to gain recognition in the mid-1900s.