Plan your visit to see Marianne von Werefkin →

• What is Marianne von Werefkin known for?+

  Marianne von Werefkin is known for her involvement in the German Expressionist movement, particularly her association with Der Blaue Reiter. She played a significant role in organising the intellectual life of the artistic circle in Munich, and her theoretical contributions to Kandinsky's thinking about abstraction have recently been acknowledged.
• What is Marianne von Werefkin's most famous work?+

  It is difficult to name one single "most famous" work by Marianne von Werefkin; however, several paintings are often discussed. Her *Self Portrait (Selbstbildnis)*, circa 1910, is one example. It signals her engagement with her Russian origins. Another is *Return Home (Heimkehr)*, circa 1909. This painting matches the scenarios in Werefkin’s illustrated correspondence from her return visit to Kovno, where her brother Peter was governor. The painting invests motifs common to her Murnau period with transnational resonance. The provincial cityscape has an eerie beauty, and the washerwomen offer commentary on peasant life. Gabriele Münter painted *Portrait of Marianne Werefkin* in 1909, in Murnau. Münter recalled that she painted Werefkin before the yellow base of her house. She noted Werefkin's appearance: self-confident, authoritatively, richly dressed, with a hat like a carriage wheel.
• What should I know about Marianne von Werefkin's prints?+

  Printmaking has a long history. Although it was mostly viewed as a craft for commercial reproduction, graphics became high art in the hands of masters such as Dürer, Rembrandt, and Goya. During the late 19th century, prints gradually came to be considered a major artistic medium. The quality of each impression took on new importance. Artists began to sign their prints, differentiating original graphics from reproductions. A signature testified to the authenticity of a print and the artist's approval of a particular proof. Artists limited the size of print editions and numbered them, influencing the price of each print. Original prints allowed artists to reach a larger audience than before. Because prints were produced in greater quantities than other art forms, they could be distributed widely at a comparatively low cost. Julius Meier-Graefe, Ambroise Vollard, and Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler recognised the value of prints as a popular art form. They encouraged late-19th and early-20th century painters and sculptors to make them.
• What style or movement did Marianne von Werefkin belong to?+

  Marianne von Werefkin was associated with Expressionism, a movement that began in Germany during the early years of the twentieth century. She was involved with the avant-garde artistic circle in Munich. With Gabriele Münter, Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, and others, Werefkin helped form the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (NKV) or New Artists’ Association Munich. Later, Münter, Werefkin, Kandinsky, and Marc formed Der Blaue Reiter, an Expressionist group that broke with conventional painting styles. However, Werefkin's and Jawlensky’s works were not included in the initial Blaue Reiter exhibitions. By 1913, along with other artists of Der Blaue Reiter, their works were featured in Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon. Expressionist artists used colour and line to convey feelings and opinions. The NKV exhibitions combined Munich painters and sculptors with Russian and French artists of Symbolist, Fauvist, and Cubist orientation. Women artists such as Gabriele Münter and Marianne von Werefkin were given equal rights and membership in the NKV, a policy not common in Wilhelmine Germany.
• What techniques or materials did Marianne von Werefkin use?+

  Marianne von Werefkin worked primarily with oil paints, a common medium that allows for varied textural effects depending on its preparation and application. The surface, or *faktura*, of a painting is affected by how the artist manipulates the paint. This includes the direction of brushstrokes, the thickness of the paint application, and the use of techniques such as layering or glazing. Some artists would prepare many palettes, each with a distinct tone, and use a different brush for each. Others were less careful, and might use the same paints for several days, or add materials such as kerosene to the paint. The addition of varnishes, resins, or glazes can also alter the colours and surface sheen. Artists often use canvas as a painting surface, sometimes priming it with gesso. Other supports include hardboard panels or paper pads.
• What was Marianne von Werefkin known for?+

  Marianne von Werefkin (1860-1938) was a Russian-German Expressionist artist. She is known for her involvement with the avant-garde art circles in Munich and her association with Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a group of Expressionist artists who moved away from conventional painting styles. In Munich, Werefkin helped to found the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (New Artists’ Association Munich). Although Werefkin's and Jawlensky’s works were not included in the initial Blaue Reiter exhibitions, they were later featured in large exhibitions in 1912 and 1913. Her paintings often explored themes of alienation and cultural identity. Her work Return Home, from around 1909, is associated with her return to Russia and reflects the experience of an émigré revisiting their roots. Her Self-Portrait, from around 1910, signals her engagement with her Russian background. Werefkin's paintings from this period evoke the sensations of Expressionism, rendering the familiar strange and toying with both joyous and painful memories.
• When did Marianne von Werefkin live and work?+

  Marianne von Werefkin (1860-1938) was a Russian-Swiss Expressionist artist. Born into an aristocratic family in Tula, Russia, she demonstrated artistic talent early in life. In 1880, she began studying with Ilya Repin, a leading Russian realist painter. An accident in 1888 injured her painting hand, but she retrained herself to paint with the other. In 1896, Werefkin moved to Munich with Alexej von Jawlensky, her partner, and Helene Nesnakomoff, their housekeeper (and Jawlensky's future wife). There, she suspended her own artistic production to support Jawlensky's career, while hosting a salon that gathered many artists. After a twenty-year hiatus, Werefkin resumed painting in 1906. In 1909, Werefkin, Jawlensky, Wassily Kandinsky, and Gabriele Münter founded the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (NKVM), or New Artists' Association of Munich, an early Expressionist group. When disagreements arose within the NKVM, Werefkin, along with Kandinsky and Münter, broke away to form Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) in 1911. With the outbreak of World War One, Werefkin and Jawlensky moved to Switzerland, settling in Ascona in 1918. After separating from Jawlensky, Werefkin remained in Ascona, where she continued to paint and exhibit her work. She died there in 1938.
• Where can I see Marianne von Werefkin's work?+

  Marianne von Werefkin's art can be viewed in several European museums. In Germany, her work is held at the Brucke Museum and the Nationalgalerie, both in Berlin. You can also find her paintings at the Kunsthalle in Bremen, the Ludwig Museum and Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, the Folkwang Museum in Essen, the Kunsthalle in Hamburg, the Stadtische Kunsthalle in Mannheim, and the Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal. In Munich, look to the Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen. Other European museums holding her paintings include the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid. Some works are also held in private collections.
• Where was Marianne von Werefkin from?+

  Marianne von Werefkin was born in Tula, Russia, on 29 August 1860. Her father was commander of the Ekaterinburg Regiment. Her mother was an artist, who gave Werefkin her first painting lessons. Werefkin came from a privileged background. She was from a family of Russian aristocrats. This position allowed her certain advantages as she pursued her artistic interests. In 1880, she began studies with Ilya Repin, the Russian realist painter, at his studio in St. Petersburg. Repin's instruction was a formative influence. In 1888, while hunting with Repin, Werefkin accidentally shot herself in the hand, which impacted her painting ability. In 1896, Werefkin moved to Munich with Alexej von Jawlensky. There, she ceased painting for a decade, instead supporting Jawlensky's work and developing her artistic theories. She resumed painting around 1906, producing symbolist and expressionist works.
• Who did Marianne von Werefkin influence?+

  Marianne von Werefkin's influence can be seen in the work and recollections of Gabriele Münter. Münter painted Werefkin's portrait in 1909, depicting her as a self-assured woman in Bavaria. Münter recalled Werefkin as having a "bombastic appearance" and an authoritative character. Werefkin's persona as a creative figure attracted a cohort of talented women, such as the poet Else Lasker-Schüler. The power of Werefkin's aristocratic name, "von Werefkin" or "Baronin", marked her entry into the German art world. Werefkin's conception of her position in Der Blaue Reiter allows some insight as to how she attracted other talented women. The group could accommodate a performative interplay between masculine and feminine, which signals its major legacies to the field of pre-emancipation sexual and cultural politics.
• Who influenced Marianne von Werefkin?+

  Marianne von Werefkin, a Russian-born artist associated with German Expressionism, experienced several artistic influences. Initially, she studied with Anton Ažbe and Franz von Stuck in Munich. Later, she encountered Fauvism and Expressionism, which inspired her to adopt vivid colours and distorted representational elements. The folk art and fairy tales from her birthplace, the Vologda region, also had an impact. Furthermore, the colour and light in Claude Monet's paintings provided inspiration. Gabriele Münter's 1909 portrait of Werefkin suggests the latter's 'aristocratic origins' and 'temperamental strength of character'. The critic for the Rheinisch-Westfälische Zeitung lacked the vocabulary to assess the abstraction in Münter’s portraiture. Wassily Kandinsky's belief that art can be a manifestation of spirituality also impacted Werefkin. Kandinsky moved from figurative paintings to distortions of reality through colour and shape, before focusing solely on colourful planes, lines, and shapes.
• Who was Marianne von Werefkin?+

  Marianne von Werefkin was a Russian noblewoman and artist. Born in 1860, her father was a general in command of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St Petersburg. She gave up painting for ten years to support Jawlensky's career, and later moved to Ascona alone after he left her.