Alexej von Jawlensky
A Russian-born painter who channeled spiritual intensity into a lifelong series of increasingly abstract, iconic heads and meditative landscapes.
1864–1941 (age 77)·Russian-born German painter·Birthday: March 13·The Gilded Age
Biography
Alexej von Jawlensky began as a Russian guards officer before trading his uniform for a painter’s smock, studying under Ilya Repin in St. Petersburg. In 1896, he moved to Munich, a decision that placed him at the heart of the German avant-garde. He became a vital force in the New Munich Artists’ Association and, crucially, Wassily Kandinsky’s Der Blaue Reiter group, where his work evolved from thickly painted, Fauvist-inspired landscapes toward a profound focus on the human face. His 'Heads' and later 'Saviour’s Faces' and 'Meditations' are a unique contribution to modern art—reducing the portrait to its essential, almost hieratic form, using bold color to express inner life and mystical yearning. Forced by arthritis to stop painting in 1937, his final years were marked by physical limitation but artistic reverence. Jawlensky’s journey created a bridge from Russian soulfulness to European Expressionism, resulting in a body of work that feels both timeless and deeply personal.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Alexej was born in 1864, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Alexej Was Born
The biggest hits of 1864
Alexej's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1864Born
President: Abraham Lincoln
1869Started school
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1877Became a teenager
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1880Could drive
Edison patents the incandescent light bulb
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1882Could vote
First electrical power plant opens in New York
President: Chester A. Arthur
1885Turned 21
Karl Benz builds the first gasoline-powered automobile
President: Grover Cleveland
1894Turned 30
President: Grover Cleveland
1904Turned 40
New York City opens its first subway line
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1914Turned 50
World War I begins
President: Woodrow Wilson
1924Turned 60
First Winter Olympics held in Chamonix, France
President: Calvin Coolidge"It Had to Be You" — Isham Jones
1934Turned 70
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stars Fell on Alabama" — Jack TeagardenBest Picture: It Happened One Night
1941Died at 77
Pearl Harbor attack brings the US into WWII
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,060Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Chattanooga Choo Choo" — Glenn MillerBest Picture: How Green Was My Valley
Key Achievements
- Was a founding member of the influential Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter alongside Kandinsky and Marc.
- Developed his celebrated series of abstracted 'Mystical Heads' and 'Meditations,' exploring spiritual portraiture.
- Co-founded the exhibition society 'Die Blaue Vier' (The Blue Four) to promote modern German art internationally.
- His work is held in major museums worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Lenbachhaus in Munich.
Did You Know?
He was a close friend and artistic peer of Marianne von Werefkin, a major Expressionist painter in her own right.
Jawlensky's son, Andreas, became an art historian who helped catalog and promote his father's work.
Nazi authorities deemed his work 'degenerate' and removed 72 of his pieces from public collections in 1937.
He began his signature series of heads during World War I while interned in Switzerland.
“Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings.”
