Murnau 1910

Alexej von Jawlensky captured the village of Murnau with oil on board. Look at that mountain range in a deep indigo, looming over the landscape. You can almost feel the weight of it. I can imagine Jawlensky outside, squinting at the light, trying to capture the essence of this place. Those bold strokes of pink for the clouds, the way the green and yellow fields seem to vibrate – it's like he's translating the feeling of the scene, not just the look of it. The paint looks applied in thick, juicy layers. It gives everything a kind of raw energy, like he's wrestling the colors onto the surface. Then these little houses dotted along the plane, each painted in its own colour. Jawlensky was part of this amazing moment in painting along with Kandinsky and others, pushing the boundaries of representation, trying to get at something deeper, more emotional. I always wonder, what were they talking about? What were they hoping to achieve? It is as if these painters are in conversation, each one trying to outdo the other in their own way, creating something new and exciting!