ALEXEJ VON JAWLENSKY

ALEXEJ VON JAWLENSKY

(Torschok 1864–1941 Wiesbaden)

Herbst I (Autumn I). 1904.

Oil on cardboard.

Titled, dated, signed and numbered on the reverse: HERBST. I. 1904 / A. Jawlensky / N. 14.

27.4 × 44.5 cm.

Provenance:
- Artist's estate.
- Galerie Wilhelm Grosshenning, Dusseldorf.
- Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York (with label on the reverse).
- Swiss private collection, acquired in the 1970s from the above gallery and since then owned by the same family.

Exhibition:
New York 1972/73, German Expressionists, Leonard Hutton Galleries, no. 18 (with label on the reverse).

Literature:
- The Alexej von Jawlensky Archive: Alexej von Jawlensky. Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, vol. I (1890–1914), London 1991, p. 76, no. 66 (with b/w ill.).
- Clemens Weiler: Alexej Jawlensky, Cologne 1970, no. 1180.

Alexej von Jawlensky and Marianne Werefkin spent the summer of 1904 in Reicherthausen in Upper Bavaria. Inspired by the nature, Jawlensky began to deal more intensively with landscapes from that point onwards. The result is a small series of less than ten paintings that show the rural surroundings in a vibrant manner with bright colours.

A year earlier, Jawlensky had travelled to Paris, where he studied Vincent van Gogh's paintings in the spring exhibition of the Munich Secession. This encounter with the works of the Dutch painter is considered a decisive moment and marks a turning point in the artist's work that became apparent from 1904 onwards. Vincent van Gogh's influence can already be felt in the present painting "Herbst I” which is part of the aforementioned series. Here, Jawlensky begins to experiment with what he sees, employing a freer application of colour and letting the brushstrokes slide in different directions.
The work offered at auction, "Herbst I”, is a splendid example of Jawlensky's early work. There are only a small number of the landscapes created in Reicherthausen and none have been on the market since the 1990s.