About this artwork
The violent colours and broad brushstrokes seen in Head of a Woman can be compared with paintings by Derain. Jawlensky's painting achieved maturity in 1911. He felt that his most powerful works were produced in the period up to 1914, when he was painting in strong colours with a 'tremendous inner ecstasy'. The majority of Jawlensky's works are portraits and heads of women, and, in a sense, he was continuing the great tradition of Russian icon painting. His later work became increasingly stylized, with the female head being reduced to a few schematic forms and lines.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Alexej von Jawlensky (1864 - 1941) Russian
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title:Frauenkopf [Head of a Woman]
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date created:About 1911
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materials:Oil on millboard laid on plywood
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measurements:52.20 x 50.20 cm; Framed: 73.70 x 71.20 x 6.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1964
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accession number:GMA 896
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Alexej von Jawlensky
Alexej von Jawlensky
Jawlensky was born in Russia, and started out with a military career. He began his art studies comparatively late, in his mid-twenties, and in 1896 left the army and went to Munich where he enrolled at art school. Another Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky, was a fellow student, and the two became...