Portrait of a Girl

During his service as an army officer Alexei Jawlensky studied at the St. Petersburg Art Academy. There he met Ilya Repin, who introduced him to Marianne Werefkin. In 1896, Jawlensky travelled with her to Munich, where he met Wassily Kandinsky. The two artists established the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (New Artists Association, Munich) the year the Portrait of a Girl was made, and the association was later to produce the Blaue Reiter. The members pursued a new formal approach and sought to combine external impressions with inner sensations. Initially influenced by Henri Matisse, whom he met in Paris, and Fauvism, Jawlensky sought this new form of expression in colour and its mood, which is reflected impressively in his portraits of this year. In Portrait of a Girl, the basic colour blue, synonymous with longing, is graduated in rich facets. The girl’s blouse changes into shades of violet, the yellowish tinge to the face is shaded with blue and green. The red skirt covered in dark spots acts as a contrast. (AH)