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Frosty Day by Jawlensky, Alexej von

Jawlensky, Alexej von · 1915

This is Alexej von Jawlensky's 'Frosty Day', painted in 1915. Jawlensky created it in exile in Switzerland while World War I tore through Europe. The painting is an oil on canvas board, and it lives in a private collection.

The key to reading it is the vivid red form hovering above the tree. Jawlensky had developed a private symbolic language by this time, heavily influenced by his friendship with Wassily Kandinsky and his own spiritual searching. The red shape is not abstract for its own sake; it is frequently identified as a stylized human heart. The bare tree stands for a body, the frozen ground for isolation, and the warm red for the spirit or soul that persists.

Jawlensky spent the war years cut off from his Russian homeland and his artistic circles in Munich. He painted landscapes like this one to process exile and anxiety, reducing nature to flat planes of emotive color. This was his turn away from decorative naturalism and toward a direct, almost icon-like form of painting. He wanted to paint the inner feeling of a thing, not its outer likeness.

The entire composition works as a message: cold surrounds, but something warm and vital remains. It is a quiet, coded act of hope.

Details

The bare tree. Not just winter, vulnerability.
The bare tree. Not just winter, vulnerability.
The snow-covered ground. A vast, cold emptiness.
The snow-covered ground. A vast, cold emptiness.
Now look at the vivid red form.
Now look at the vivid red form.
The impasto technique here creates a tactile quality, giving the tree form a rough, textured appearance.
The impasto technique here creates a tactile quality, giving the tree form a rough, textured appearance.
This unexpected splash of warm color adds a dynamic element and visual interest to the otherwise cool palette.
This unexpected splash of warm color adds a dynamic element and visual interest to the otherwise cool palette.
Transcript

Winter, 1915. Europe is at war. Jawlensky painted this in exile, far from home. The bare tree. Not just winter, vulnerability. The snow-covered ground. A vast, cold emptiness. Now look at the vivid red form. A slash of living color in a frozen world. It's a heart. His code for enduring spirit.