Spring
- Date
- 1912
- Material
- Oil on cardboard
- made in
- Munich, Bavaria state, Germany, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 26 x 19 3/4 in. (66 x 50.2 cm)
- Credit Line
- Bequest of Morton D. May
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 896:1983
NOTES
Bright yellows, greens, and pinks evoke the colors of spring and give this woman’s face an almost flowerlike appearance. European artists had personified the four seasons as women for centuries, but that was not Alexei Jawlensky’s intent. He believed that a painting’s colors inspired an emotional response in its viewer. The woman’s blushing red cheeks and bold mouth, outlined in yellow, suggest love and affection—feelings associated with spring.
Provenance
- still in 1936/1937
Alexei von Jawlensky (1867-1941), Wiesbaden, Germany [1]
Emmy Galka Scheyer (1889-1945), Hollywood, CA, USA, acquired from the artist [2]
- 1960
New Gallery (Eugene V. Thaw), New York, NY
1960 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Eugene V. Thaw [3]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [4]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the catalogue raisonné compiled by the artist's wife and daughters [Jawlensky, Maria, Lucia Pieroni-Jawlensky, and Angelica Jawlensky. "Alexej von Jawlensky: Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings. Volume One, 1890-1914." London: Sotheby's Publications, 1991, cat. no. 503]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] The artist settled in Wiesbaden in 1921. This painting was included in the artist's photo archive that was compiled in Wiesbaden in 1936/1937. It consists for the most part of black and white photographs of paintings and drawings which were in the artist's studio at that time [letter from Angelica Jawlensky Bianconi dated September 30, 2002, SLAM document files].
[2] Emmy Galka Scheyer was an art collector and dealer who befriended Jawlensky and the other members of the artist group The Blue Four, and did much to promote their work in the United States. Jawlensky met Scheyer in 1916, and periodically sent her paintings until the late 1930s.
[3] May purchased the painting from the New Gallery, June 2, 1960 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].
[4] Last Will and Testament of M. D. May dated June 11, 1982 [copy, May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 20, 1983.
Alexei von Jawlensky (1867-1941), Wiesbaden, Germany [1]
Emmy Galka Scheyer (1889-1945), Hollywood, CA, USA, acquired from the artist [2]
- 1960
New Gallery (Eugene V. Thaw), New York, NY
1960 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Eugene V. Thaw [3]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [4]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the catalogue raisonné compiled by the artist's wife and daughters [Jawlensky, Maria, Lucia Pieroni-Jawlensky, and Angelica Jawlensky. "Alexej von Jawlensky: Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings. Volume One, 1890-1914." London: Sotheby's Publications, 1991, cat. no. 503]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] The artist settled in Wiesbaden in 1921. This painting was included in the artist's photo archive that was compiled in Wiesbaden in 1936/1937. It consists for the most part of black and white photographs of paintings and drawings which were in the artist's studio at that time [letter from Angelica Jawlensky Bianconi dated September 30, 2002, SLAM document files].
[2] Emmy Galka Scheyer was an art collector and dealer who befriended Jawlensky and the other members of the artist group The Blue Four, and did much to promote their work in the United States. Jawlensky met Scheyer in 1916, and periodically sent her paintings until the late 1930s.
[3] May purchased the painting from the New Gallery, June 2, 1960 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].
[4] Last Will and Testament of M. D. May dated June 11, 1982 [copy, May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 20, 1983.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.