Large Meditation No. 10
1936
Alexei Jawlensky (Russian, 1864-1941)
Not on View

Jawlensky worked to develop his compositions from within rather than from without. "I am not so much searching for new forms," he said, "but I want to go deeper; not to progress in breadth but in depth." This searching for harmony and perfection reached its final form in 1934 with his series of Meditations. The head is now reduced to its most minimal components. Black lines delineate his framework of nose, mouth, brows, and eyes. This grid floats on a background of densely colored, almost tangible brushstrokes. It has been noted frequently that the black lines of the eyes and nose form the Eastern Orthodox cross. The human face has been condensed into a symbol of universal tragedy.

Details

  • Artist Name: Alexei Jawlensky (Russian, 1864-1941)
  • Title: Large Meditation No. 10
  • Date: 1936
  • Medium: Oil on textured wove paper mounted on cardboard
  • Dimensions: 9-7/8 x 7 in. (25.1 x 17.8 cm)
  • Credit Line: Norton Simon Museum, The Blue Four Galka Scheyer Collection
  • Accession Number: P.1954.29.07
  • Copyright: © Norton Simon Museum

Object Information

The artist, May 1937 to;
Galka Scheyer;
Auction of Alien Property Custodian, Federal Office Building, San Francisco, 28 September, 1954, lot 1, no. 3;
purchased by;
Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena,1954-1975;
Norton Simon Museum, 1975.

Paths to Abstraction: Pioneers of Early 20th Century Painting

  • Norton Simon Museum, 1989-01-19 to 1990-01-14

Jawlensky exhibition

  • Seattle, Cornish School, 1939-03 to 1939-03

Selections from the Galka E. Scheyer Blue Four Collection

  • Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, 1973-10-02 to 1973-11-18

My Four Kings: Galka Scheyer and the Blue Four

  • Norton Simon Museum, 2002-12-13 to 2003-04-14

Jawlensky and the Serial Image

  • Irvine, University of California, University Art Gallery, 1966-03-11 to 1966-03-31
  • Riverside, University of California, Art Gallery, 1966-04-04 to 1966-04-30

Visions and Icons: the Art of Alexei Jawlensky

  • Norton Simon Museum, 1990-01-18 to 1991-04-14

Alexei Jawlensky (1864-1941)

  • Norton Simon Museum, 2007-05-04 to 2007-11-05

Permanent and Loan Collection, 1973

  • Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, 1973-01-30 to 1973-12-31

The Blue Four-Galka Scheyer Collection From The Norton Simon Museum

  • Henry Art Gallery, 1997-07-17 to 1997-10-05

Bauhaus Painters; Spirit of Modernism: Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, El Lissitzky, Oskar Schlemmer, Alexander Archipenko, Alexei Jawlensky and Others

  • Seoul, Ho-Am Art Museum, 1996-02-08 to 1996-04-28

The Spirit of Modernism: Galka Scheyer in the New World

  • Norton Simon Museum, 1994-11-17 to 1996-01-14
  • The Blue Four Galka Scheyer Collection, Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena, 1976, no. 164c p. 57
  • Jawlensky, Maria, Lucia Pieroni-Jawlensky, and Angelica Jawlensky, Alexej von Jawlensky: Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, 1934-1937, 1993, no. 1985
  • Barnett, Vivian Endicott, The Blue Four Collection at the Norton Simon Museum, 2002, no. 229 pp. 198-199

Additional Artwork by Artist

Abstract Head: Small Head on Wood Alexei Jawlensky 1921
Head Alexei Jawlensky 1912
Head Inclined to the Right, with Closed Eyes Alexei Jawlensky c. 1922

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