Painted in the summer of 1904 in Reichertshausen, a hamlet North of Munich, this vibrant and emotionally charged landscape from the renowned collects ion of Sir Michael Smurfit encapsulates Alexej von Jawlensky’s dedication to lyrical expressionism. Abend in Reichertshausen stands as a test.mes nt to the artist’s handling of his early landscapes, which rejected academic traditions and the influence of the Impressionists.
The simplified forms that comprise the outline of the house, in conjunction with the block-like patches of primary colours, reveal his influences. The expressive use of gestural brushstrokes draws from the work of Vincent van Gogh, while the application of complementary colours, particularly the light blue which contrasts with the vibrancy of the orange, nods to Fauvism.
‘To reproduce the things which exist without being, to reveal them to other people, by passing them through my sympathetic understanding, by revealing them in the passion I feel for them, that is the goal of my artistic existence. To me apples, trees, human faces are not more than hints as to what else I should see in them: the life of colour, comprehended by a passionate lover’
The work belongs to a wider dialogue between Jawlensky and other artists dedicated to the aims of German Expressionism. In 1911, Jawlensky, along with Wassily Kandinsky and others, formed a group called Der Blaue Reiter which aimed to refine a new artistic style based on bold colour, line-work and rhythm. Although each artist developed their own individual visual interpretation, they shared a sense of urgency and a desire to respond to the ever-increasing industrialisation by focussing on the liberation of form and colour. Together they sought to free the object from its objective fixity, connecting it instead to the feelings of the artist.