Marianne von Werefkin

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Artists in Munich 1914:
(from left) Alexej von Jawlensky, Clotilde von Derp, Marianne von Werefkin, Alexander Sacharoff

Marianne von Werefkin (Russian Мариамна/Марианна Владимировна Веревкина; * September 10 [O.S. August 29] 1860 in Tula, Russia; † 6 February 1938 in Ascona, Switzerland) was a Russian-Swiss painter in the Expressionist era.

[edit] Biography

Marianna Wladimirowna Werewkina (Transliteration Marianna Vladimirovna Verëvkina) was born the daughter of the commander of the Ekaterinaburg Regiment. In 1880, she became a student of Ilya Repin, the most important painter of Russian Realism. Her progress was dealt a setback by a hunting accident in 1888 in which she shot her right hand, the one with which she painted.

In 1892 she met Alexej von Jawlensky, who desired to make her his protégé, and in 1896 she, Jawlensky, and their servant moved to Munich. For the sake of Jawlensky's painting, Werefkin interrupted her painting for almost ten years.

She created her first expressionist works in 1907. In these she followed Paul Gaugin's and Louis Anquetin's style of "surface painting", while also showing the influence of Edvard Munch. In 1909, the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (New Association of Artists in Munich, NKVM) was founded. It became a forum of exhibitions and programming.

In 1911, "der Blaue Reiter" was founded. It put out an eponymous almanac, and held its first exhibition in the winter of 1911/1912. In 1912 Werefkin and Jawlensky left the NKVM and joined the Blaue Reiter.

At the outbreak of the First World War, they immigrated to Switzerland, near Geneva. They later moved to Zurich. By 1918, they had separated, and Werefkin moved alone to Ascona, on Lago Maggiore. In 1924 she founded the artist group "Großer Bär", (Big Bear, Ursa Major).

In her later years, she painted posters. Her friends "Carmen" and "Diego Hagmann" protected her from poverty.

She was later buried in the Russian graveyard in Ascona.

[edit] Important Works

Herbst (Schule) / Autumn (School), 1907
Im Café / In the café, 1909
Tragische Stimmung / Tragic Mood, 1910
Schlittschuhläufer / Ice Skater, around 1911

Quoted from: "Marianne von Werefkin in Murnau - Kunst und Theorie, Vorbilder und Künstlerfreunde", Katalog einer Sonderausstellung im Schloßmuseum Murnau, bearbeitet von Brigitte Salmen.