Where to See Marianne von Werefkin

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.

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.

Marianne von Werefkin (1860-1938) is significant for her association with early German Expressionism, particularly her role within Der Blaue Reiter circle. Although overshadowed by better-known male contemporaries such as Kandinsky and Jawlensky, recent scholarship has brought renewed attention to her artistic contributions and theoretical ideas. Werefkin's work explores themes of alienation, identity, and the experience of modernity. Her paintings, often executed in gouache and tempera, employ bold colours and simplified forms to convey emotional intensity. The steep perspectives and elongated figures create a sense of unease, reflecting her personal experiences as a Russian émigré in Munich. Beyond her artistic output, Werefkin's writings offer insights into the artistic debates of her time. Her "Talk on the symbol, the sign and its significance in mystical art" (1914) reveals her nuanced understanding of abstraction and figuration within Der Blaue Reiter. She acknowledged the validity of purely abstract approaches, while also advocating for art rooted in lived experience. Her theories and artistic practice offer a valuable counterpoint to better-known narratives of early German modernism.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.