Saviour's Face: Distant King - Buddha II 1921

Alexej von Jawlensky made Saviour's Face: Distant King - Buddha II, probably with oil paint. Jawlensky approaches the canvas with a kind of reverence, building up a face with thick, deliberate marks. The palette here is pretty limited, working with earth tones and muted colors. It feels almost like a process of excavation, like he's trying to unearth something hidden within the paint itself. Look at the mouth – just these bands of color, red, yellow, green. It's so simple, but so expressive, like a secret code. The texture is amazing; you can almost feel the ridges and valleys of the brushstrokes. I'm reminded of Marsden Hartley, with that same kind of mystical intensity. But Jawlensky brings something unique, a kind of raw, vulnerable honesty. And, of course, ambiguity is key – it's not about answers, it's about questions.