Abstract Head; Tragic 1928

Alexej von Jawlensky made this compelling head using, it seems, thin layers of oil paint. I imagine him building up the image slowly, reducing it to these stark geometric shapes with a limited but evocative palette of oranges, reds, grays, and blacks. I wonder what Jawlensky was thinking about when he made this. It's interesting how a few simple lines can suggest so much about the character and emotion of the sitter. The black vertical line serves as a nose and bisects the face; somehow it gives a tragic air to the face. It reminds me of the way Mondrian was simplifying natural forms at around the same time; they were both searching for the underlying structure of things, reducing the world to its essence. Painting can be an ongoing conversation like that, across time and place, with artists riffing off each other's ideas. It's an embodied form of expression that embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple readings.