Variation: 1916, lights tomorrow
| Variation: morning lights |
|---|
| Alexej Jawlensky , 1916 |
| Oil on canvas on cardboard |
| 34.4 x 27.3 cm |
| Wiesbaden Museum, Wiesbaden
Link to the picture |
"Variation: Lights Tomorrow" is the title of a 1916 painting by the German-Russian painter Alexej Jawlensky . In 1968 it was acquired by the then museum director Clemens Weiler for the Wiesbaden Museum . It bears the inventory number M 850.
Technology and image carriers
The painting “Variation: Lights Tomorrow” is an oil painting, portrait format, 34.4 × 27.3 cm, on canvas, mounted on cardboard. It is monogrammed 'AJ' and not dated in the lower left of the picture. "Back not visible, marked on the back protection (in pencil): Lichter Morgen / Öl Fenster. Provenance: estate of the artist. ”The picture is recorded in the“ workshop directory ”from 1970 with Clemens Weiler, in the“ Catalog Raisonné ”from 1991 of the Jawlensky archive and in 1997 in the Jawlensky inventory catalog of the Museum Wiesbaden.
Vocal character of the picture
"The transparent, light colors and the use of an upwardly curved composition scheme give this work a mood character corresponding to the title."
Iconology
“Since he emigrated to Switzerland, the artist has become a painter of the invisible worlds of feeling, soul and spirit. Mysterious picture titles such as 'Lights Tomorrow', 'Tenderness' or 'Deeply Moved' emerge. Jawlensky reveals himself to be a portrayal of emotional states. It was certainly not entirely wrong to try to find an explanation for this unusual painting in the psyche of Jawlensky's own personality or his Russian origins. However, this reference would be too simple, since it was precisely the Japanese who achieved something unusual in the representation of mental dispositions and moods. Like these, Jawlensky interestingly uses the portrait format for the so-called internalized images and strings them together in a serial treatment. Since 1914, the 'Variations on a Landscape Theme' have been created in this way. "
In 1938 Jawlensky sent a “Variation” to Verkade
Jawlensky gave Jan Verkade a revealing description of the change in his painting after the First World War : “I now began to look for a new way in art. It was a great job. I understood that I didn't have to paint what I saw, not even what I felt, but only what lived in, me, in my soul. [...] The nature that was in front of me only prompted me. [...] At first it was very difficult. But little by little, I was able to easily find what was in my soul with colors and shapes. My formats got small. […] I painted a lot of pictures that I called 'variations on a landscape theme'. "Jawlensky feared that his variation could be misunderstood and explained Verkade:" I am sending you one of my last works. I suspect she will be a stranger to you. But, dear Father , don't be a strict judge right away, because you must know that every new language can be strange, even repulsive. You have to want and understand like any new language, which you have to learn first. You don't have to let the soul protest, the soul has to exert itself, suffer. And through that one comes to understanding. It's always that way. I will also send you a color reproduction of a 'variation'. The original belongs to Prof. Hamann Marburg (Lahn), who had it reproduced in the art books of the University of Marburg . Now I am a cripple . I cannot work, I cannot walk and stand, I always have to lie down and I suffer terribly. You may have heard that Baroness Werefkin died in February . It was a hard blow for me. Yes, yes, mistakes made sooner or later have to be paid for. And how hard often. "
literature
- Clemens Weiler : Alexej Jawlensky. Cologne 1959
- Maria Jawlensky, Lucia Pieroni-Jawlensky, Angelica Jawlensky (eds.): Alexej von Jawlensky, Catalog Raisonné of the oil-paintings. Vol. 1, Munich 1991, No. 848
- Ingrid Koszinowski: Alexej von Jawlensky, paintings and graphic works from the collection of the Wiesbaden Museum Wiesbaden 1997.
- Bernd Fäthke : Jawlensky's role models (1880–1921). In exh. Cat .: Jawlensky's Japanese woodcut collection. A fairytale discovery. Edition of the Administration of State Palaces and Gardens, Bad Homburg vdH, No. 2, 1992
- Bernd Fäthke: Jawlensky and his companions in a new light. Munich 2004
Individual evidence
- ↑ “The title of the work created in 1916 is given in the purchase papers: Small Variation No. 115 Lights Morning. According to the information from the Jawlensky Archive, the picture was labeled '1916 N. 115' on the reverse. It can therefore be assumed that the date and numbering are on the reverse, which is no longer visible, whereas the title goes back to Andreas Jawlensky . In the artist's workshop directory, the variation N. 115 from 1916 with the addition 'St. Prex ' . ”Ingrid Koszinowski: Alexej von Jawlensky, paintings and graphic works from the collection of the Wiesbaden Museum. Wiesbaden 1997, p. 33 No. 20.
- ^ Ingrid Koszinowski: Alexej von Jawlensky, paintings and graphic works from the collection of the Wiesbaden Museum. Wiesbaden 1997, p. 33.
- ↑ Clemens Weiler: Alexej Jawlensky, Heads-Face-Meditations . Hanau 1970, p. 155 no.115.
- ↑ Maria Jawlensky, Lucia Pieroni-Jawlensky, Angelica Jawlensky (eds.): Alexej von Jawlensky, Catalog Raisonné of the oil-paintings , Vol. 1, Munich 1991, p. 162 No. 830 162 with b / w illus.
- ^ Ingrid Koszinowski: Alexej von Jawlensky, paintings and graphic works from the collection of the Wiesbaden Museum. Wiesbaden 1997, p. 33 No. 20 with color illus.
- ^ Ingrid Koszinowski: Alexej von Jawlensky, paintings and graphic works from the collection of the Wiesbaden Museum. Wiesbaden 1997, p. 34.
- ↑ Bernd Fäthke: Jawlensky's role models (1880-1921). In exh. Cat .: Jawlensky's Japanese woodcut collection. A fairytale discovery. Edition of the Administration of State Palaces and Gardens, Bad Homburg vdH, No. 2, 1992, p. 40 with Fig. 34.
- ↑ Alexej Jawlenski: To P. Willibrord Verkade. In: The work of art. Volume 2, issue 1/2, 1948, p. 49.
- ↑ Bernd Fäthke: The Werefkin in profile , in exh. Cat .: Alexej Jawlensky 1864-1941 . City Gallery in the Lenbachhaus Munich 1983, p. 6.
- ↑ Alexej Jawlenski: To P. Willibrord Verkade. In: The work of art. Volume 2, issue 1/2, 1948, p. 50.