Alexej von Jawlensky

Alexej Georgewitsch von Jawlensky (?13 March 1864 – 15 March 1941) was a Russian expressionist painter active in Germany. He was a member of the New Munich Artist's Association (Neue Künstlervereinigung München), Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) group and later the Die Blaue Vier (The Blue Four).

Life and work

Alexej von Jawlensky was born in Torzhok, a town in the department of Tver, Russia, as the fifth child of Georgi von Jawlensky and his wife Alexandra (née Medwedewa). His family was aristocratic.

At the age of ten he moved with his family to Moscow. After a few years of military training, he became interested in painting, visiting the Moscow World Exposition "c." in 1880.

In 1896 he moved to Munich where he studied in the private school of Anton Ažbe. In Munich he met Wassily Kandinsky, and Marianne von Werefkin, other Russian artists and helped form the Neue Künstlervereinigung München. His work in this period was lush and richly coloured, but later moved towards abstraction with a simplified and formulaic style in a search to find the spiritual.

He died in Wiesbaden, Germany on 15 March 1941.

Legacy

In November 2003 his "Schokko" "(Schokko mit Tellerhut)" sold for US$8,296,000 and in February 2008 for GB£ 9,400,000 (US$18,4 million).

The 2006 album by the jazz group Acoustic Ladyland, "Skinny Grin", features one of his works, "Portrait of The Dancer Alexander Sacharoff", as its cover art.

elected works

Jawlensky's works include:

* "Abend"
* "Woman with a Fan"
* "Symphony"
* "Hyacinth", "c." 1902
*"Abstract Head"
* [http://www.ludorff.com/ap/jawlensky/jawlenskye.html 'Heilandsgesicht: Nemesis II"]
* [http://www.privateartcollection.net/pac/display/artobject.do?groupid=&grouptype=&aoid=A00000I4&artisttype=&aotype=A000000E&lang=en_EN&sort=&artistao=all&genericid=A00000VW&artistid=A00000LK&upaction=%2Fdisplay%2Fartist.do"Cornfield near Carantec"]
* [http://www.privateartcollection.net/pac/display/artobject.do?groupid=&grouptype=&aoid=A00000VW&artisttype=&aotype=A000000E&lang=en_EN&sort=&artistao=all&genericid=A00000VW&artistid=A00000LK&upaction=%2Fdisplay%2Fartist.do"Girl with Flower Hat"]

External links

* [http://www.ludorff.com/ap/jawlensky/jawlenskye.html Available Works & Biography] Galerie Ludorff, Duesseldorf, Germany
* [http://www.privateartcollection.net/pac/display/artist.do?&lang=en_EN&artistid=A00000LK "Biography of Alexej Georgewitsch von Jawlensky"]
* [http://www.the-artists.org/ArtistView.cfm?id=8A01F6D1-BBCF-11D4-A93500D0B7069B40 Information] with links from [http://www.the-artists.org/ the-artists.org]
* [http://www.jawlensky.ch "Official Website"]