Alexei von Jawlensky
Head of a Woman

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Artist Alexei von Jawlensky (Russian, 1864–1941)Russian, 1864–1941

CultureRussian

Titles

Head of a Woman

Date1912

PlaceMunich, Germany

MediumOil on board

DimensionsBoard: 20 7/8 × 19 1/2 in. (53 × 49.5 cm)
Frame: 31 1/4 × 29 3/4 × 2 1/4 in. (79.4 × 75.6 × 5.7 cm)

Credit LineJohn A. and Audrey Jones Beck Collection, gift of Audrey Jones Beck

Object number98.284

Current Location

The Audrey Jones Beck Building

223 Beck Galleries

On view

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Department

European Art, Beck Collection

Special Collections

Object Type

PAINTING

Provenance[Echem Niehaus/Galerie Niehaus, Munich, after 1937] [1]; [Finarte, Milan, “Vendita all'asta di opere d'arte moderna,” 22 November 1962, lot 101, as “Weiblicher Kopf,” illus. in color, no. 27]; [purchased by Galerie Beyeler, Basel, 1962] [2]; [purchased by Hamilton Galleries, London, October 29, 1964] [3]; Helmut Gernsheim (Munich, 1913–Switzerland, 1995), Castagnola, Switzerland, by 1968 [4]; [Roman N. Ketterer (Bräulingen, Germany, 1911–Lugano, 2002), Lugano/Campione, 1968]; purchased by Mr. and Mrs. John A. Beck, Houston, 1968 [5]; given to MFAH, 1998.

[1] Jawlensky, Jawlensky and Jawlensky (1991), no. 470. No information was found on Galerie Niehaus, Munich. Jawlensky inscribed work numbers on the backs of some of his paintings. According to the catalogue raisonné, this inconsistent cataloguing system was undertaken in his studio with the help of Lisa Kümmel in Wiesbaden in 1937, therefore, it seems that Niehaus had the painting after this date. Jawlensky, Jawlensky and Jawlensky (1991), 35–36.

[2] Galerie Beyeler, inv. no. 3518. (Beyeler’s purchase and sale information was confirmed in an email from the Archives of Galerie Beyeler to Julia May Boddewyn, 12 November 2024.)

[3] Ibid. The short-lived Hamilton Gallery/Galleries opened in 1963 and closed in 1967 and was run by Annely Juda (1914–2006). Bloomsbury Art Market Dictionary: https://www.bloomsburyvisualarts.com/article?docid=b-9781350924390&tocid=b-9781350924390-72250&st=Hamilton+Gallery (Accessed by Julia May Boddewyn, 4 September 2024)

[4] Jawlensky, Jawlensky and Jawlensky (1991)

[5] The invoice from Roman Norbert Ketterer to Mr. John A. Beck is dated 14 June 1968. Object file, MFAH. (Confirmed by Julia May Boddewyn, 12 November 2024)
Exhibition History"The Blue Four: Klee, Kandinsky, Feininger, Jawlensky," Hamilton Galleries, London, July 1964, no. 20, as Frauenporträt, 1910, ill. in b/w, n.p. [no lender listed]

"U.S. Loan Exhibition," National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1971–73.

"The Collection of John A. and Audrey Jones Beck," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1974.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscription: Inscriptions on verso of pulp board panel.:
At upper right, verso: "HEIBLKOPF 1910 (with a "2" inscribed over the zero) A. Jawlensky (signature of the artist) At lower left, verso: "N 63."

Signed upper left, recto: "A.Jawlensky"

Catalogue raisonnéMaria Jawlensky, Lucia Pieroni-Jawlensky and Angelica Jawlensky, "Alexej von Jawlensky: Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings", Vol. I, 1890–1914 (London: Sotheby’s Publications, 1991), no. 470, as "Weiblicher Kopf (Woman’s Head)", 1912 N. 63, p. 376

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