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拍品專文
Painted circa 1912, Jünglingsportrait is a dynamic, expressive painting by Alexej von Jawlensky and an encapsulation of his vibrant visual idiom. The work was painted during a period of immense creativity for Jawlensky, later referred to by the artist as the ‘turning-point’ of his practice (quoted in M. Jawlensky, L. Pieroni-Jawlensky, & A. Jawlensky, Alexej von Jawlensky: Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, vol. I, 1890 – 1914, London, 1991, p. 31). Jawlensky believed that the paintings he produced between 1911 and the outbreak of the First World War were among the most powerful of all his painterly accomplishments. During this period he almost exclusively painted female sitters, making Jünglingsportrait, a depiction of a boy, a rarity in the artist’s oeuvre.
In Jünglingsportrait, an adolescent occupies the majority of the picture plane, the subject's piercing gaze and defiant expression arresting the viewer’s attention. The features are highly stylized and defined by vibrant tonalities, from deep purple to sage green, which stand in stark contrast to the tranquil landscape in the background. An opulent, dark blue outline further delineates the face and draws awareness to the eyes. This ‘halo’ was a recurring motif of the heads of this period, and the chromatic device – an homage to Russian icons – emphasises the graphic nature of the image as well as its visual impact.
Jawlensky’s use of dazzling, non-naturalistic pigments can be traced to his interest in Fauvism. He first saw works by Henri Matisse at the 1905 Salon d’Automne, in which he was also exhibited as part of the Russian section. He returned again to Paris the following year, and further submerged himself in the world of the Fauves: that year’s Salon exhibition also included paintings by André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck, as well as canvases by Paul Gauguin. As Jawlensky explained, it was during this trip that he came to understand ‘how to translate nature into colour according to the fire in my soul…’ (quoted in ibid., p. 30). The Fauves’ consideration of colour for both its expressive and material potential particularly appealed to the artist, and bright, almost electric hues began to appear in his compositions later that autumn.
During subsequent trips to Paris, Jawlensky was able to visit Matisse’s studio and the two had ‘long fascinating conversations about art’ and technique (Jawelnsky quoted in p. 22). By the time Jünglingsportrait was created, Jawlensky had imbibed much of Fauvism and filtered it through his own visual aesthetic to create a unique and highly vivacious style. Trips to Murnau, south of Munich, with Marianne von Werefkin, Wassily Kandinsky, and Gabriele Münter, in 1908, and later visits to the Baltic coast in 1911, resulted in an art impacted by the forms he saw closer to home. He began to heavily contour his imagery, bringing his art to new heights as evident in Jünglingsportrait.
Jünglingsportrait was previously owned by the painter and art patron Hanna Bekker vom Rath. Known for her unconventional life, she began studying art at a young age and later participated in several exhibitions. It was the patronage and exhibition of Modern art, however, that would ultimately become her calling. She developed friendships with Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Emy Roeder, and Jawlensky, and later supported artists whose work was banned under National Socialism by helping to sell their art and offering them shelter in her home in Berlin. After the Second World War, she founded the gallery Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker vom Rath, which opened with an exhibition dedicated to Käthe Kollwitz. Bekker vom Rath was determined to bring German art to the world and organised a series of exhibitions that took her across the globe. In 2024, the Brücke-Museum, Berlin, devoted an exhibition to her, noting that she was ‘an important pioneer of modernism…and tirelessly committed to modern art and artists’ (‘Archive: Hanna Bekker vom Rath. A Rebel for Modern Art’, Brücke-Museum, accessed on 21 August 2025, online).
In Jünglingsportrait, an adolescent occupies the majority of the picture plane, the subject's piercing gaze and defiant expression arresting the viewer’s attention. The features are highly stylized and defined by vibrant tonalities, from deep purple to sage green, which stand in stark contrast to the tranquil landscape in the background. An opulent, dark blue outline further delineates the face and draws awareness to the eyes. This ‘halo’ was a recurring motif of the heads of this period, and the chromatic device – an homage to Russian icons – emphasises the graphic nature of the image as well as its visual impact.
Jawlensky’s use of dazzling, non-naturalistic pigments can be traced to his interest in Fauvism. He first saw works by Henri Matisse at the 1905 Salon d’Automne, in which he was also exhibited as part of the Russian section. He returned again to Paris the following year, and further submerged himself in the world of the Fauves: that year’s Salon exhibition also included paintings by André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck, as well as canvases by Paul Gauguin. As Jawlensky explained, it was during this trip that he came to understand ‘how to translate nature into colour according to the fire in my soul…’ (quoted in ibid., p. 30). The Fauves’ consideration of colour for both its expressive and material potential particularly appealed to the artist, and bright, almost electric hues began to appear in his compositions later that autumn.
During subsequent trips to Paris, Jawlensky was able to visit Matisse’s studio and the two had ‘long fascinating conversations about art’ and technique (Jawelnsky quoted in p. 22). By the time Jünglingsportrait was created, Jawlensky had imbibed much of Fauvism and filtered it through his own visual aesthetic to create a unique and highly vivacious style. Trips to Murnau, south of Munich, with Marianne von Werefkin, Wassily Kandinsky, and Gabriele Münter, in 1908, and later visits to the Baltic coast in 1911, resulted in an art impacted by the forms he saw closer to home. He began to heavily contour his imagery, bringing his art to new heights as evident in Jünglingsportrait.
Jünglingsportrait was previously owned by the painter and art patron Hanna Bekker vom Rath. Known for her unconventional life, she began studying art at a young age and later participated in several exhibitions. It was the patronage and exhibition of Modern art, however, that would ultimately become her calling. She developed friendships with Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Emy Roeder, and Jawlensky, and later supported artists whose work was banned under National Socialism by helping to sell their art and offering them shelter in her home in Berlin. After the Second World War, she founded the gallery Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker vom Rath, which opened with an exhibition dedicated to Käthe Kollwitz. Bekker vom Rath was determined to bring German art to the world and organised a series of exhibitions that took her across the globe. In 2024, the Brücke-Museum, Berlin, devoted an exhibition to her, noting that she was ‘an important pioneer of modernism…and tirelessly committed to modern art and artists’ (‘Archive: Hanna Bekker vom Rath. A Rebel for Modern Art’, Brücke-Museum, accessed on 21 August 2025, online).