The Werefkin in profile

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The Werefkin in Profile" has been the title of a painting since 1983 that the German-Russian artist Alexej Jawlensky painted around 1905. The work belongs to the holdings of the Fondazione Marianne Werefkin (Museo Comunale d'arte Moderne) in Ascona . The painting is not listed in Jawlensky's catalog raisonné.

Technology and dimensions

The oil painting on cardboard has the dimensions 70.6 × 45.5 cm. The portrait is neither signed nor dated. There is no lettering on the back.

Iconography and style

The Werefkin is shown as a chest piece in a strict side view pointing to the left. Jawlensky rarely had profile views until 1914. The painting was created around 1905 under the stylistic influence of Vincent van Gogh before the long trip to France that Werefkin took with Jawlensky, his son Andreas and the cook Helene in 1906. It can be compared with other of his works from this period. The picture is characterized by an extraordinary color intensity. What is remarkable is the way in which Jawlensky picked up different colors unmixed at the same time with the same brush and placed them next to and on top of one another in individual painting acts. In the forehead hair and in the sleeve of the Werefkin, the patches of color are tick-shaped, on the face and neck they are almost straight. The background is flat and has no depth. Jawlensky enlivened it with short blue-green strokes of paint and tinsel-like highlights. Jawlensky learned how to create a background in this way from van Gogh, who in turn drew on the Japanese art of woodcutting . This is an imitation of Japanese crepe, which the Dutchman admired so much in Far Eastern prints and which he imitated several times in his own pictures to structure flat backgrounds.

Exhibitions

1958/1959

In 1958, Clemens Weiler put together the first Werefkin exhibition after the Second World War with 58 exhibits from loans from the Fondazione Marianne Werefkin and from the property of Alexander von Werefkin . The exhibition went on tour until 1959. It was passed on from museums to art associations and art halls. The individual stations were Wiesbaden, Bonn, Frankfurt, Munich, Bremen, Wuppertal, Baden-Baden and Dortmund. The catalog showed two self-portraits at the time. “Self-portrait I” was shown in color as the cover. In 1963 the painting was acquired by the Lenbachhaus . The "Self-Portrait II" - the only oil painting in the exhibition - was shown in the catalog with a b / w illustration. It was not recognized as originating from Jawlensky, although the catalog stated: "From 1902 onwards, Marianne von Werefkin only painted in the tempera technique."

1961

In 1961, the Kunstmuseum Winterthur organized the exhibition “ The Blue Rider and His Circle”. The "Self-Portrait II" was again wrongly presented as a picture of the Werefkin. Strangely enough, the date of creation was given as "1917".

1983

Jawlensky's art did not reach the general public awareness until 1983 through a retrospective . This was organized by the Lenbachhaus in Munich with over 250 catalog numbers and passed on to the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden . "Die Werefkin im Profil" made its debut as catalog number 22, correctly attributed to Jawlensky. The date of origin was determined to be "around 1905", which resulted from a term ante quem and a term post quem .

2002

In 2002, the Murnau Castle Museum showed the exhibition “Marianne von Werefkin in Murnau, Art and Theory, Role Models and Artist Friends.” The Castle Museum asked VG Bild-Kunst in Bonn whether the Alexej von Jawlensky Archive in Locarno would address any copyright concerns Presentation of the picture “The Werefkin in Profile” in the exhibition. The VG Bild-Kunst replied: The approval “cannot be granted because, according to the estate, this work cannot be ascribed with certainty to the artist Alexej von Jawlensky!” A compromise was made by including the illustration in the catalog a question mark "(?)".

2014

Twelve years later - in 2014 - the Wiesbaden Museum exhibited the painting “The Werefkin in Profile” in its exhibition “Horizont Jawlensky 1900–1914, Alexej von Jawlensky in the mirror of his encounters”. With the title, full-page color illustration and its date in the catalog, the editor made it clear that the findings of the Lenbachhaus from 1983 should be followed.

literature

  • Clemens Weiler: Marianne von Werefkin. In: Marianne Werefkin 1860–1938. Catalog. Municipal Museum Wiesbaden, 1958, cat. No. 2, b / w illus. 2, no p. [P. 9].
  • Heinz Keller (ed.): The blue and his circle. Catalog. Kunstmuseum Winterthur, 1961, cat. No. 110, plate XXII (there referred to as Werefkin's "Self-Portrait II, 1917")
  • Bernd Fäthke : The Werefkin in profile. In: Alexej Jawlensky 1864–1941. Catalog. City Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-7913-0629-4 , pp. 67-72, cat. No. 22, color. Fig, p. 137.
  • Brigitte Salmen (ed.): Marianne von Werefkin in Murnau, art and theory, role models and artist friends. Catalog. Murnau 2002, ISBN 3-932276-14-0 , cat.no.2 , color. Fig, p. 67.
  • Bernd Fäthke: Jawlensky and his companions in a new light. Hirmer-Verlag, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-7774-2455-2 , p. 81 with b / w illus. No. 77
  • Roman Zieglgänsberger (ed.): Horizont Jawlensky 1900–1914, Alexej von Jawlensky in the mirror of his encounters. Catalog. Museum Wiesbaden, 2014, cat.no.35, color. Fig, p. 135.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bernd Fäthke: The Werefkin in profile. In: Alexej Jawlensky 1864–1941. Catalog. City Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich 1983, p. 67.
  2. ↑ Maria Jawlensky, Lucia Pieroni-Jawlensky, Angelica Jawlensky (eds.): Alexej von Jawlensky, Catalog Raisonné. Volume 1-4. Munich 1991–1998.
  3. ^ Roman Zieglgänsberger (ed.): Horizont Jawlensky 1900–1914, Alexej von Jawlensky in the mirror of his encounters. Catalog. Museum Wiesbaden, 2014, cat.no.35, p. 299.
  4. ↑ In the catalog raisonné, volume I, only 13 profile portraits can be found.
  5. ↑ Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharow: Vincent van Gogh and the Birth of Cloisonism. Catalog. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto 1981, p. 37 ff.
  6. ↑ Bernd Fäthke: Marianne Werefkin. Munich 2001, p. 8.
  7. ↑ Clemens Weiler: Marianne von Werefkin. In: Marianne Werefkin 1860–1938. Catalog. Städtisches Museum Wiesbaden, 1958, undated, [p. 8-11].
  8. ↑ Clemens Weiler: Marianne von Werefkin. In: Marianne Werefkin 1860–1938. Catalog. Städtisches Museum Wiesbaden, 1958, undated, [p. 1].
  9. ↑ Clemens Weiler: Marianne von Werefkin. In: Marianne Werefkin 1860–1938. Catalog. Städtisches Museum Wiesbaden, 1958, undated, [p. 8th].
  10. ↑ Rosel Gollek: The Blue Rider in the Lenbachhaus Munich. In: Catalog of the collection in the municipal gallery. Munich 1974, cat. No. G 13144, p. 255. The self-portrait was then dated “around 1908”.
  11. ↑ Clemens Weiler: Marianne von Werefkin. In: Marianne Werefkin 1860–1938. Catalog. Städtisches Museum Wiesbaden, 1958, undated, [p. 2].
  12. ↑ Heinz Keller (ed.): The blue and his circle. Catalog. Kunstmuseum Winterthur, 1961, undated, cat. No. 110, full-page illustration as panel XXII, there referred to as Werefkin's "Self-Portrait II, 1917".
  13. ^ Armin Second (Ed.): Alexej Jawlensky 1864–1941. Catalog. Municipal gallery in the Lenbachhaus, Munich 1983.
  14. ↑ Bernd Fäthke: The Werefkin in profile. In: Alexej Jawlensky 1864–1941. Catalog. City Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich 1983, pp. 67–72.
  15. ↑ Brigitte Salmen (ed.): Marianne von Werefkin in Murnau, art and theory, role models and artist friends. Murnau 2002, ISBN 3-932276-14-0 , cat.no.2 , color. Fig, p. 67.
  16. ^ Roman Zieglgänsberger (ed.): Horizont Jawlensky 1900–1914, Alexej von Jawlensky in the mirror of his encounters. Catalog. Museum Wiesbaden, 2014, cat.no.35, color. Fig, p. 135.