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Lot Essay
Mystischer Kopf: Kopf in blau was painted in 1918 and forms part of one of the most pivotal series in Alexej von Jawlensky's career. It was only the previous year that Jawlensky had created his first Mystischer Kopf; this was a group of works that he painted only between 1917 and 1919, meaning that they are relatively few in number compared to some of his other serial compositions. These works were originally inspired in part by the features of the young artist Emmy 'Galka' Scheyer who would come to have such an important role in his enduring reputation. Alongside the Heilandsgesicht images begun at approximately the same time, the 'Mystical Heads' allowed Jawlensky to reconcile two crucial threads of his output in a combination that would have an impact on his artistic practice for the rest of his life: now, he was able to fuse the seriality of the Variations that he had previously been painting, a group of codified landscapes intended as sources of contemplation, and the subject matter of the human face which he had favoured for so much of his life and which had come to increasing prominence during the years since the blossoming of his expressionist palette around 1910 and 1911. From this series onwards, this would be his main focus, as he created works through a process that was itself meditative, granting a spirituality to the subject of the human face which is accentuated in Mystischer Kopf: Kopf in blau by the glowing colours.
In Mystischer Kopf: Kopf in blau, the bold palette of Jawlensky's expressionism is evident in the yellows, oranges and greens, amongst other colours, with which he has conjured the impression of this absorbing, wide-eyed face. The composition recalls the religious icons of Jawlensky's native Russia, as does the disciplined, restrained means of depicting the face itself, yet the electric palette gives a pulsating sense of spiritual energy that is heightened by the bluish aura that surrounds the head. In this way, this picture underlines the bold strategies embraced by Jawlensky, who had already helped to found and inspire various movements related to German Expressionism in his adopted home, Munich, and now was having an impact upon a new generation of artists in Zurich, where he was in temporary exile during the First World War. There, figures vital to the foundation of Dada and later Surrealism were impressed by his novel, rigorous approach to semi-abstraction and by the mysticism in which a head like this is so deeply rooted.
In Mystischer Kopf: Kopf in blau, the bold palette of Jawlensky's expressionism is evident in the yellows, oranges and greens, amongst other colours, with which he has conjured the impression of this absorbing, wide-eyed face. The composition recalls the religious icons of Jawlensky's native Russia, as does the disciplined, restrained means of depicting the face itself, yet the electric palette gives a pulsating sense of spiritual energy that is heightened by the bluish aura that surrounds the head. In this way, this picture underlines the bold strategies embraced by Jawlensky, who had already helped to found and inspire various movements related to German Expressionism in his adopted home, Munich, and now was having an impact upon a new generation of artists in Zurich, where he was in temporary exile during the First World War. There, figures vital to the foundation of Dada and later Surrealism were impressed by his novel, rigorous approach to semi-abstraction and by the mysticism in which a head like this is so deeply rooted.