Art stele Alexej von Jawlensky

From a provincial Russian town to a German metropolis: Born in Central Russia in 1864, Alexej von Jawlensky's professional career began as an officer in the Tsarist army. He was only able to develop his artistic talent when he moved to Munich in 1896 to attend a private art school. At the outbreak of the First World War, Jawlensky, as a Russian citizen, was expelled from Germany and initially lived in Switzerland. In 1921, the artist took part in an exhibition in Wiesbaden. "I met some very nice people there, and that convinced me to take up residence in Wiesbaden," he later noted. In 1924, Jawlensky formed the "Blue Four" group with Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Lyonel Feininger, with the aim of selling works in the USA. Jawlensky had been friends with Kandinsky since 1897 – in 1924, both were staying on the island of Sylt, one in Wenningstedt, the other in Kampen. Jawlensky declined a professorship with thanks, believing that art could not be taught. "I work for myself, only for myself and my God," declared the Expressionist, who, from 1934 onwards, could only paint with difficulty due to progressive paralysis. What's more, in 1933, the Nazis banned him from exhibiting his works, and four years later, they confiscated 72 of his works as "degenerate." Jawlensky, considered one of the most important artists of classical modernism, died in 1941 in his adopted hometown of Wiesbaden.
His estate is administered in Locarno, Switzerland. The painter stayed in Kampen twice in the 1920s. He received financial support from another well-known Expressionist who lived on the nearby mainland: Emil Nolde. In Kampen, Jawlensky created compositions of abstract heads, while his son painted the Kampen lighthouse and a Sylt girl. During his first visit to Sylt, Jawlensky made an unflattering statement: "I was looking for a tree. I wanted to hang myself, it was so terrible. But there isn't even a tree here." However, the insulting visitor returned, this time with his family, to the annex of the guesthouse on Kampen's Kirchenstieg. The "Stranger List" of the "Sylter Kurzeitung" noted: "Mr. von Jawlensky, painter, and family, arriving on August 20, 1924." On September 14, he wrote in the guest book of his Kampen landlords: "With deepest respect for the beloved Sörensen family." Alexej von Jawlensky garnished these words with a small drawing. Because he was relatively penniless at the time, he was allowed to pay the rent in another way: He painted a living room door of the hospitable house with floral motifs.