Sale: 522 / Modern Art II, Dec. 11. 2021 in Munich Lot 428

 

428
Alexej von Jawlensky
Große Meditation: Zärtlichkeit im Herbst, 1936.
Oil on canvas-structured paper, originally lami...
Estimate:
€ 50,000 / $ 54,000
Sold:
€ 62,500 / $ 67,500

(incl. surcharge)
Große Meditation: Zärtlichkeit im Herbst. 1936.
Oil on canvas-structured paper, originally laminated on board. On panel.
Jawlensky/Pieroni-Jawlensky/Jawlensky 2087. Lower left monogrammed and lower right dated. Inscribed with the artist's name, as well as "XI. 1936" and "N. 28" by Lisa Kümmel on the reverse. Titled "Meditation XL" and "Zärtlichkeit im Herbst" by Lisa Kümmel on the reverse. Additionally inscribed "A. Jawlensky / Grosse Meditation XL, Nr. 28/XI 1936 / Zärtlichkeit im Herbst" as well as inscribed with dimensions and technique by Andreas Jawlensky, the artist's son, on the reverse. 24.1 x 17.6 cm (9.4 x 6.9 in). Backing board: 26 x 19,6 cm (10,2 x 7,7 in).
[CH].
• Masterful visualization of Jawlensky's wonderful glazing painting style
• Colors in finest nuances, from a delicate purple over red to a strong violet.
• Jawlensky turns a human face into an iconic manifestation of religious feelings with great empathy.
• From the artist's estate.
• A "Große Meditation" from the same year is in possession of the Museum of Modern Art, New York
.

PROVENANCE: Artist's estate (collection of Andreas and Maria Jawlensky, Locarno).
Private collection Bonn (wedding gift from the above in 1972)
Galerie Linssen, Bonn.
Private collection Baden-Württemberg (acquired from the above in 1983).
Private collection Southern Germany (acquired from the above in 2016).

EXHIBITION: Das Gesicht als Bild der Seele. Meditationen - Köpfe. Alexej von Jawlensky - Dietrich Klinge, Städtische Wessenberg-Galerie, Konstanz, Museum im Prediger, Schwäbisch Gmünd, July 6 - September 23, 2001, p. 21 (with color illu.).

LITERATURE: Ketterer Kunst, München, 436th auction, Modern Art I, December 10, 2016, lot 207.

The denominations Jawlensky uses within the series show that he rejects a hierarchy of forms. So there is no increase or ranking in the "Variations", the "Constructive Heads", the "Saint‘s Faces " or in the "Meditations". In this sense there is also no serial arrangement that would classify the works, except for maybe the fact that they repeated with increasing precision. And without any significant change in the arrangement, a certain static view of an apparent emptiness of coordinated forms emerges, which differs through the precise use of color, as it is the case with this great meditation "Zärtlicher Herbst" (Tender Autumn). The head is now reduced to an absolute minimum, to a vertical black line which divides the canvas into two symmetrical halves and stands for the nose, while eyes and eyebrows are black lines at right angles and close to the nose line. The mouth is also indicated with a black line at the lower end of the vertical in the middle and underlines this fixed scheme. The format plays a rather minor role here, whereas the subtle colors and their density, as well as the brushstroke have a clear influence on the 'meditative', iconic effect, which is repeated in a similar form from picture to picture. In this meditation the purple-brown and reddish brown color makes for the association with a "tender autumn". "The permanent pain is getting hard on me. The pain does not allow me to move. [..] I sit and work. These are my most beautiful hours. I only work for myself and for my God. My elbows hurt very badly, I often feel I am going to faint from the pain. But my work is my prayer, a passionate prayer spoken through colors. Small, larger and even larger works. They all come in very different colors. A lot of beautiful things, maybe even all of them are nice, because I repaint what no longer appears good enough for me, even works from previous months, "Jawelnsky reports to his art agent Emmy "Galka"Scheyer in New York on May 12, 1936. (quote from: Alexej von Jawlensky, Museum Wiesbaden, 1991, p. 294) Jawlensky's wonderful glazing painting style with the delicate purple, red and violet in finest nuances make the face appear almost transparent: With great empathy Jawlensky changes a human face into an iconic appearance full of religious sensation. (MvL)



428
Alexej von Jawlensky
Große Meditation: Zärtlichkeit im Herbst, 1936.
Oil on canvas-structured paper, originally lami...
Estimate:
€ 50,000 / $ 54,000
Sold:
€ 62,500 / $ 67,500

(incl. surcharge)