Jawlensky

Alexej von Jawlensky (1864–1941) was a Russian-born painter who spent much of his career in Germany and became a central figure in Expressionism. He is associated with the Der Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider) circle, a loose group of artists that included Wassily Kandinsky and Marianne von Werefkin, and he contributed to its exhibitions and ideas.

Jawlensky moved to Munich in the 1890s to study painting, where he developed a bright, luminous color sensibility influenced by Post-Impressionism. He formed a lifelong partnership with Werefkin, and together they hosted an active circle of artists who moved between Munich and the broader European avant-garde. Through his work and contacts, he helped connect Russian and German modernism.

From the 1910s onward, Jawlensky’s paintings increasingly focused on portraiture. He developed the renowned series of “Head” paintings—highly simplified, stylized portraits built from bold blocks of color, clear outlines, and smooth planes that frequently verged toward abstraction. These works emphasized essential form and emotion over detailed likeness and helped push German Expressionism toward a more abstract direction.

Jawlensky remained active in Germany during the interwar period and died in 1941 in Wiesbaden. His legacy lies in bridging late 19th-century Post-Impressionism with early 20th-century abstraction, and his luminous, simplified portraits influenced subsequent generations of modern artists. Today his works are held in major museums and collections around the world.