.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Painted in 1910, Dunkle Bäume über grünem Hang is a powerful example of the experimental approach to colour that Alexej von Jawlensky achieved in the breakthrough landscapes he created at Murnau. This small, sleepy market town, nestled in the shadows of the Bavarian Alps, had become a haven for Jawlensky and his artistic colleagues Wassily Kandinsky, Gabriele Münter and Marianne von Werefkin during the summer of 1908, with the foursome returning again and again over the following two years to spend extended sojourns in the serene, idyllic setting. During this time, the four artists often worked together in a communal manner, frequently painting the same scenes from different viewpoints, and pursuing similar stylistic experiments in their work. It was Jawlensky who took the lead in guiding the quartet’s evolution at this time, with both Münter and Kandinsky portraying him as the group’s mentor in their memoirs. Sharing his knowledge of the French avant-garde with his fellow painters, Jawlensky encouraged them to develop a free and expressive handling of colour and form in their work, inspired by the art of Vincent van Gogh, the Fauves and the Nabis.
The drama and natural beauty of the broad expanses of the Murnau moors set against the scenic backdrop of the Alpine peaks provided Jawlensky and his fellow artists with a compelling visual environment, and the sweeping Bavarian landscape featured heavily in their output from this time. Executed in intense, luminous swathes of colour Dunkle Bäume über grünem Hang glows with an emphatic vitality, its mix of rich pigments lending the scene a mysterious atmosphere. The patches of soft pink that punctuate the lapis blue sky create the impression that the artist has captured the scene at either dawn or dusk, just as the light shifts. The soft blush of the sky is echoed in the purple shadows of the rolling green hill, while hints of a delicate golden hue peek through from behind the blades of grass, vividly illustrating Jawlensky’s use of complementary colours to build his compositions. Perfectly capturing the spirit of the landscape, the artist conveys not only his own sensations of awe before the scene, but also introduces a spiritual dimension to the subject, in which the sweeping vista becomes a portal to a greater understanding and appreciation of nature, a concept the artist would continue to explore throughout the rest of his career.
The drama and natural beauty of the broad expanses of the Murnau moors set against the scenic backdrop of the Alpine peaks provided Jawlensky and his fellow artists with a compelling visual environment, and the sweeping Bavarian landscape featured heavily in their output from this time. Executed in intense, luminous swathes of colour Dunkle Bäume über grünem Hang glows with an emphatic vitality, its mix of rich pigments lending the scene a mysterious atmosphere. The patches of soft pink that punctuate the lapis blue sky create the impression that the artist has captured the scene at either dawn or dusk, just as the light shifts. The soft blush of the sky is echoed in the purple shadows of the rolling green hill, while hints of a delicate golden hue peek through from behind the blades of grass, vividly illustrating Jawlensky’s use of complementary colours to build his compositions. Perfectly capturing the spirit of the landscape, the artist conveys not only his own sensations of awe before the scene, but also introduces a spiritual dimension to the subject, in which the sweeping vista becomes a portal to a greater understanding and appreciation of nature, a concept the artist would continue to explore throughout the rest of his career.