Artwork
Red Path, St. Prex
Red Path, St. Prex is an oil painting by Alexej von Jawlensky. It dates from 1915 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left: A.Jawlensky 1915; upper right reverse, the portion of the backing board containing the first line cut off and attached to center of the backing: A. Jawlensky / 1915 / N. 3.; originally upper left reverse, now attached to center of the backing, by Lisa Kümmel: Roter Weg. 1915. St. Prex.
About this work
Technique & Style
Prex is executed in oil on paper laid down on cardboard, a layered support typical of Jawlensky's small-scale landscape studies of the period.
Red Path, St. Prex is executed in oil on paper laid down on cardboard, a layered support typical of Jawlensky's small-scale landscape studies of the period. The painted surface measures 27.3 by 36.2 cm, and the work is classified as a painting in the landscape genre.
Stylistically, the painting belongs to the artist's mature prewar phase, when he produced intensely colored, semi-abstracted landscapes in oil on paper that compress natural motifs into rhythmic planes of saturated pigment. The handling is consistent with this approach: thin, fluid oil layers fused with the absorbent paper ground, producing a matte, almost tempera-like finish while preserving the chromatic intensity of the red-dominated palette.
History & Provenance
The work entered the market through Kleemann Galleries in New York, where it carried the gallery’s stock number “#14.” It was subsequently acquired by Benjamin and Lilian Hertzberg, New York. Following their ownership, the painting passed by bequest in 2004 to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it remains in the permanent collection. The painting is dated 1915 and depicts a landscape view of St. Prex.
The painting is held by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it entered the collection in 2004 as a bequest from Benjamin and Lilian Hertzberg.
Its accession number is 2004.1.1. The work was previously in the artist’s estate and later with Kleemann Galleries, New York, from which the Hertzbergs acquired it; a label on the reverse from Kleemann Galleries bears the designation “#14.”
The painting has not been recorded in any documented public exhibitions since its acquisition by the National Gallery of Art.
Overview
Alexej von Jawlensky’s landscape titled Red Path, St. Prex was executed in 1915 using oil on paper mounted on cardboard. The work measures a modest size and presents a composition dominated by a vivid red track that leads the eye forward, set against a backdrop of foliage and a sky rendered in blended blue‑purple tones.
Subject & Meaning
The central element is a crimson pathway that cuts through a verdant foreground, suggesting a directed journey or passage. Trees and surrounding greenery frame the scene, while the atmospheric sky contributes a sense of distance. The juxtaposition of the striking red line with more muted natural colors creates a visual tension that guides the viewer’s movement across the picture plane.
Artist & collection
Artist
Alexej Georgewitsch von Jawlensky (Russian: Алексе́й Гео́ргиевич Явле́нский, romanized: Alekséy Geórgiyevich Yavlénskiy; 13 March 1864 – 15 March 1941), surname also spelt as Yavlensky, was a Russian expressionist painter active in Germany.
