Kochman 15remarked <strong>in</strong> 1905, “One of the greatest evils of our time isthe press, which is allowed to spit <strong>in</strong> anyone’s face withoutever be<strong>in</strong>g wrong.” 80 In later years as well, when work<strong>in</strong>g onhis autobiographical ‘Rückblicke’ <strong>in</strong> 1913, he notedWesterners’ misperceptions of <strong>Russian</strong>s <strong>and</strong> their culture <strong>and</strong>the negative stereotyp<strong>in</strong>g which cast them as ‘unruly’ if notbarbaric. 81As <strong>Munich</strong> police were seek<strong>in</strong>g to p<strong>in</strong>po<strong>in</strong>t subversive<strong>political</strong> activity among the <strong>Russian</strong> <strong>émigré</strong> population, theywere equally pressured to avoid any such perception. Göhler’searlier assessment of <strong>Russian</strong>s’ unwill<strong>in</strong>gness to engage <strong>in</strong><strong>political</strong> discussion <strong>in</strong> open, public spheres <strong>in</strong> the 1890s waseven more polarized by 1905, necessitat<strong>in</strong>g a <strong>de</strong>fensive, evenguar<strong>de</strong>d public posture, as Werefk<strong>in</strong> herself earlier<strong>de</strong>term<strong>in</strong>ed. Just as <strong>political</strong> tensions heightened for <strong>Russian</strong><strong>émigré</strong>s <strong>in</strong> <strong>Munich</strong>, its avant-gar<strong>de</strong> <strong>artists</strong> embarked on theirmost extensive period of travel. Werefk<strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong> Jawlensky spentmuch of the period between 1903 <strong>and</strong> 1908 work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> France- <strong>in</strong> Brittany, Norm<strong>and</strong>y, Provence <strong>and</strong> Paris, where they<strong>in</strong>teracted with colleagues, explored exhibition opportunitiesfor Jawlensky <strong>and</strong> saw the work of their contemporaries. 82K<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>sky <strong>and</strong> Münter traveled <strong>in</strong> Germany <strong>and</strong> Holl<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>1903-04, to Tunis <strong>and</strong> Italy <strong>in</strong> 1905, Paris from 1906 until1907 <strong>and</strong> eventually back to <strong>Munich</strong> <strong>in</strong> 1908. 83 Grabar <strong>and</strong>Kardovsky had already returned to Russia <strong>and</strong> Azbé’sunexpected <strong>de</strong>ath <strong>in</strong> 1905 elim<strong>in</strong>ated his school as a keyattraction for <strong>Russian</strong> stu<strong>de</strong>nts. The ‘<strong>Russian</strong> colony’ Grabarhad so warmly characterized several years earlier had lost itskey members, as professional motives <strong>and</strong> personalcircumstances effectively erased the former structure with<strong>in</strong>which the <strong>Russian</strong> <strong>émigré</strong> artist community had organized.Strategically, the geographic distance <strong>and</strong> absence oforganized activity with<strong>in</strong> the group m<strong>in</strong>imized the level ofrisk with which they might become <strong>political</strong> targets <strong>in</strong><strong>Munich</strong>. But if these offered practical means of protect<strong>in</strong>gthemselves from the city’s immediate <strong>political</strong> tensions, thiswas also pursued artistically through <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly abstracted,non-naturalist images whose subjective framework did notallow for the k<strong>in</strong>d of literal <strong>in</strong>terpretation associated withtraditional representational pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>gs, such as allegory,historical narratives or portraiture.Werefk<strong>in</strong>, Jawlensky, K<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>sky <strong>and</strong> Münter’s return to<strong>Munich</strong> by 1908 co<strong>in</strong>ci<strong>de</strong>d with a period of relatively greaterstability <strong>in</strong> the city. Local anti-tsarist sentiment cont<strong>in</strong>ued toexist <strong>and</strong> <strong>Russian</strong> refugees now arrived there, 84 but fearsconcern<strong>in</strong>g a local upris<strong>in</strong>g among German workers, liberals<strong>and</strong> the far left - encouraged by such events as the 1905<strong>de</strong>monstrations, were less acute. <strong>Munich</strong>, to a certa<strong>in</strong> extent,had reverted from a city of foment to one whose traditionalpopulist-based i<strong>de</strong>ntity could serve as a mo<strong>de</strong>l forhumanitarian assistance to <strong>Russian</strong> 1905-revolution victims,much as it had done <strong>in</strong> the 1890s for the nation’s stu<strong>de</strong>nts.The state of flux regard<strong>in</strong>g what constituted artistic freedom<strong>and</strong> <strong>political</strong> behavior for <strong>Russian</strong> <strong>émigré</strong>s characteriz<strong>in</strong>g theearly years of the century, now had a clearer structure as well.While the boundaries of how far they could be stretched wouldbe tested <strong>in</strong> subsequent years, for these <strong>Russian</strong> <strong>émigré</strong> <strong>artists</strong>,the merg<strong>in</strong>g of these issues effectively provi<strong>de</strong>d the frameworkwith<strong>in</strong> which they could artistically cont<strong>in</strong>ue to <strong>de</strong>velop <strong>and</strong>re<strong>in</strong>forced the social importance of what they had orig<strong>in</strong>ally<strong>in</strong>ten<strong>de</strong>d for their work. 85 Von Vollmar’s pledge of protection<strong>and</strong> support for <strong>Russian</strong> <strong>émigré</strong>s <strong>in</strong> 1905 <strong>and</strong> his consistentadvocacy of freedom isolated the association between <strong>Russian</strong><strong>artists</strong> <strong>and</strong> freedom by signify<strong>in</strong>g that an artist who was<strong>Russian</strong> could take certa<strong>in</strong> liberties <strong>in</strong> their artistic pursuitsas long as they were not <strong>political</strong>ly active. Organized politics,<strong>political</strong> advocacy <strong>in</strong> the press <strong>and</strong> operations <strong>de</strong>signed toun<strong>de</strong>rm<strong>in</strong>e tsarist authority were clearly <strong>de</strong>monstrated to beoff-limits to <strong>Russian</strong> <strong>émigré</strong>s as they legally fell un<strong>de</strong>rcrim<strong>in</strong>al behavior. They reflected situations represent<strong>in</strong>g anauthoritative <strong>political</strong> position <strong>and</strong> challenged the exist<strong>in</strong>gpower structure <strong>in</strong> both <strong>Munich</strong> <strong>and</strong> the <strong>Russian</strong> Empire.However, the freedom message for which Von Vollmar fought,ultimately asserted the notion that personal artistic expressionby <strong>Russian</strong> <strong>artists</strong> would be protected as a human rights issue<strong>and</strong> that artistic freedom was ak<strong>in</strong> to freedom of speech. The<strong>political</strong> culture thus upheld <strong>in</strong> pr<strong>in</strong>ciple, that the morepersonal the visual message, the more it would be supported,because it’s personal nature could not threaten the exist<strong>in</strong>gpower structure. It did not carry the k<strong>in</strong>d of <strong>political</strong> authoritywith which officials were ultimately concerned.Jawlensky, Werefk<strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong> K<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>sky negotiated theseparameters somewhat differently although they ultimatelyadhered to an artistic strategy <strong>de</strong>f<strong>in</strong>ed by its personal nature<strong>and</strong> the freedom to visualize one’s feel<strong>in</strong>gs. Articulatedthrough distorted forms, <strong>in</strong>tense colors <strong>and</strong> often accentuatedl<strong>in</strong>es, their work pushed the fabric of naturalist convention<strong>and</strong> public expectations to the extreme. Panned as “nonsense”<strong>and</strong> “absurd” by conservative critics, if not the work of<strong>de</strong>ranged <strong>artists</strong>, 86 its <strong>political</strong> implications were overlooked,its social impact often missed. Re-educat<strong>in</strong>g a publicaccustomed to hav<strong>in</strong>g the natural world represented for themwas a task consciously pursued by K<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>sky, who persistentlypromoted the i<strong>de</strong>a that images could not accomplish theirgoals alone, attested <strong>in</strong> his numerous writ<strong>in</strong>gs on art. 87 Hissuggestion to Jawlensky <strong>and</strong> other members of the NKVMthat the group leave blank sheets of paper out <strong>in</strong> the gallerydur<strong>in</strong>g exhibition for visitors’ comments after read<strong>in</strong>g bit<strong>in</strong>gpress criticism of their show <strong>in</strong> December 1909, 88 was one ofmany heated discussions the <strong>artists</strong> had regard<strong>in</strong>g strategy.Document<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>dividual visitor reaction provi<strong>de</strong>d a concretemeasure of how their work was be<strong>in</strong>g un<strong>de</strong>rstood <strong>in</strong> thepublic’s personal m<strong>in</strong>ds, yet the majority of the NKVM votedaga<strong>in</strong>st the suggestion. 89 Jawlensky, speak<strong>in</strong>g for the majority,believed shap<strong>in</strong>g public op<strong>in</strong>ion through art was the bus<strong>in</strong>ess
Emporia State Research Studies 45(1), 2009 16of art critics, not <strong>artists</strong>, who should just be concerned withmak<strong>in</strong>g art. 90 The art object should speak for itself.The public’s ability to access their artistic <strong>in</strong>tent factored <strong>in</strong>toK<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>sky’s technical pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g method, ‘hid<strong>de</strong>n construction’or versteckte Konstruktion, 91 <strong>in</strong> which he began to veil hisimages by disallow<strong>in</strong>g the traditional viewer’s expectationthat what she/he was see<strong>in</strong>g was literally <strong>de</strong>picted. 92 Onesimply could no longer be sure. Initiated <strong>in</strong> 1908, specificobjects - trees, horses <strong>and</strong> build<strong>in</strong>gs for example - were hid<strong>de</strong>nas abstracted elements <strong>in</strong> a pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g, often by plac<strong>in</strong>g theobject where it would not be expected or simplify<strong>in</strong>g its formby ren<strong>de</strong>r<strong>in</strong>g it only <strong>in</strong> partial outl<strong>in</strong>e. 93 K<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>sky’s glasspa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g Small Pleasures, 1911 (Fig. 4) for example, reveals<strong>de</strong>tails not readily apparent <strong>in</strong> the later oil version from 1913(Fig. 5) as Rose Carol Washton Long has discussed. 94 Inclu<strong>de</strong>damong many such elements are two st<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g figures located<strong>in</strong> the lower left corner as well as a blue horse <strong>and</strong> ri<strong>de</strong>r - allboldly outl<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> black <strong>in</strong> the earlier image. Yet <strong>in</strong> the 1913version, these figures lose their precision <strong>and</strong> dist<strong>in</strong>ctness -hazy, broken l<strong>in</strong>es for some of the figures, for example - wherea <strong>de</strong>f<strong>in</strong>itive outl<strong>in</strong>e once stood. Essentially a shadow of theirorig<strong>in</strong>al physical form, they were <strong>in</strong>ten<strong>de</strong>d to reeducate theviewer towards a nobler spiritual level of engagement <strong>and</strong>avoid the materialism associated with representational art. 95Jawlensky <strong>and</strong> Werefk<strong>in</strong> did not <strong>de</strong>part from representation,but abstracted <strong>and</strong> accentuated contours, distorted forms <strong>and</strong>were us<strong>in</strong>g highly saturated non-naturalistic colors at thistime. Often impact<strong>in</strong>g the viewer more for their jarr<strong>in</strong>gunconventionality, they cont<strong>in</strong>ued to refer to naturalism’s<strong>de</strong>piction of the real world. Jawlensky, who had been<strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> the work of Matisse <strong>and</strong> the Fauves <strong>and</strong> whosework he had admired <strong>in</strong> Paris <strong>in</strong> 1906, 96 had been concernedwith realiz<strong>in</strong>g color’s expressive potential. His pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g Girlwith the Green Face, 1910 (Fig. 6) is less a portrait than avisual documentation of the emotional substance of the sitter,<strong>in</strong>ten<strong>de</strong>d to capture her beauty as an <strong>in</strong>dividual human be<strong>in</strong>grather than her precise physical likeness. Although equal <strong>in</strong>color saturation, he dist<strong>in</strong>guishes those areas which are partof her body - such as her face <strong>and</strong> hair - <strong>and</strong> those which arenot, such as her clothes <strong>and</strong> light blue hair bows. The formerare ren<strong>de</strong>red with several colors, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g mid-range to lightgreen, yellow, yellow-orange, orange-yellow <strong>and</strong> brightorange for her flesh to the same orange-yellow <strong>and</strong> mediumbrown for her hair, <strong>de</strong>signed to convey a nuanced sense ofwho she is as a person. Her simple, monochromatic clothes<strong>and</strong> the pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g’s upper green background produce aflatten<strong>in</strong>g effect, a bold, <strong>de</strong>corative environment with whichthe viewer is gui<strong>de</strong>d towards her head, where the true sourceof her character exists. The chair back beh<strong>in</strong>d her shoul<strong>de</strong>rslends some <strong>de</strong>pth, by play<strong>in</strong>g on the horizontal l<strong>in</strong>es of hershoul<strong>de</strong>rs <strong>and</strong> provid<strong>in</strong>g some textural structure - as this isthe only area <strong>in</strong> the pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g <strong>de</strong>l<strong>in</strong>eated by verticalbrushstrokes. Jawlensky discussed with Werefk<strong>in</strong> theimportance of us<strong>in</strong>g l<strong>in</strong>e to br<strong>in</strong>g out the abstracted nature ofcolor, 97 <strong>and</strong> did so by vary<strong>in</strong>g l<strong>in</strong>e weight, width <strong>and</strong> pa<strong>in</strong>tthickness to correspond to it. Black pigment separates thepr<strong>in</strong>ciple areas of color he wants the viewer to <strong>in</strong>terpret butalso clarifies the dist<strong>in</strong>ct function each l<strong>in</strong>e segment has <strong>and</strong>its relationship to the larger whole. His strategy for reveal<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>ternal human states <strong>and</strong> the <strong>in</strong>dividual’s organic emotionalFigure 4. Wassily K<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>sky, Small Pleasures, 1911, glasspa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g, 12 1/16 x 15 7/8 <strong>in</strong>. Städtische Galerie imLenbachhaus, <strong>Munich</strong>. © 2009 Artists Rights Society (ARS),New York/ADAGP, Paris.Figure 5. Wassily K<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>sky, Small Pleasures, June 1913,oil on canvas, 43 ¼ x 47 1/8 <strong>in</strong>. Solomon R. GuggenheimMuseum, New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Found<strong>in</strong>gCollection. © 2009 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris.