Konrad and Alexandra (PDF) - Rolf Gross

professional title! She had felt tempted to pass off the Queen of Spades on him, and discovered that he held only agraying Jack of Hearts. Poor, abandoned Nina, brusquée Katharina—she felt no physical attraction for this man, yet shediscovered that his Russian attentiveness gave her pleasure—perverse?"I heard of you in St. Petersburg," Alexandra baited him. "Martiros Sisakian, a close friend of ours, told me to look youup.""I met Sisakian in Paris, but have not seen him for many years. You don’t appear to belong to the political radicals, areyou interested in Theosophy?" asked Kandinsky with a mocking smile and tucked in chin."Marti recommended that I should listen to Rudolf Steiner, the Theosophist.""Oh, that should be easy, he is standing right over there talking to the hostess."Kandinsky discreetly pointed to a tragically serious-looking man who, supporting his chin with his right hand, the left at anangle to his hip, was involved in a deep discussion with Mrs. Dahl."The Spiritual in Art, Music, and Painting is an eminently Theosophical subject, isn't it?" Alexandra said evasively."Yes, of course, the motto for tonight’s soirée was Herrn Steiner’s idea and the hostess was only too pleased to oblige.""I noticed that the invitations for this evening were adorned with a wood print by your hand. Would you show me yourpaintings?"Alexandra had briefly glanced at the paintings and prints that were hanging in the Dahl’s living room for the occasion: aselection of small oils, scenes from various parts of Europe, a series of wood prints on Russian mythological themes,which, because of their similarity to the print on the announcement, seemed to be Kandinsky’s. There were also severaldisturbing self-portraits, signed A. Schönberg, and a few architectural sketches for an auditorium in Dornach, Switzerlandby Steiner.Kandinsky took her around, quite obviously more fascinated by her person than by her interest in his pictures. FräuleinMünter excused herself."Art is in a state of rapid change," Kandinsky began to lecture, putting his right hand into his vest, gesticulating with theother. "We are searching for a new content in art and new forms of expression in painting as well as in music. Steiner istrying to combine music, dance, painting, and architecture in one great vision. My aim is more modest, I am trying to finda way out of symbolism, Russian and Western, and have to confess that I have not found a satisfactory expression forwhat I see."He waved his left at the series of mythological woodcuts. "These are attempts to come to terms with my emotionalRussian baggage, which seems to have followed me to the West. Memories of fairy tales my mother read to me when Iwas a child."He smiled at her winningly for the first time and Alexandra had to fend off an attack of female weakness. "Is this what onecalls Byzantine Symbolism?"His smile disappeared. "You hurt me! These prints are my very personal exploration of the symbols that express myemotions and my Russian soul. They do not belong to any particular style."She had misjudged the honesty of this man. His search might, after all, be as serious as her own, but she still could notrelate to those dark prints. She thought of Uncle Mouravi’s remark after Chekhov’s Chaika, "Thank God, we live in asunnier climate." Maybe the Russians did after all carry a heavier emotional burden then she.She softened her voice and said in Russian. "I do like your landscapes, they are full of light and color, they vibrate andsing. The first painting of yours I saw at the townhouse of the Sushinskys in St. Petersburg, a melancholy villa on a lakein a park."His smile returned. "Oh, I painted it at their estate where I spent a beautiful summer as their guest. Another nostalgicmemory."He pointed at the small oils. "The landscapes you see here are from travels in Holland, Tunis, and France in the last fewyears. They are Studienarbeiten, study pieces that I painted with and for my students, but they leave me dissatisfied. As Itold you, I have not found the right mode of painting what I see. Nature holds no longer a challenge for me as a painter."She looked at him and said with feeling. "What is it that you see in your mind? Can you describe it in words?"His brown eyes lit up, and his voice warmed. "I could try, if you would allow me to return to my native Russian."Disarmed, she nodded and gave him her best smile. Although no more attracted to him than before, she decided todiscard her Queen of Spades.They found a quiet corner and sat down. He pulled out a silver etui and offered her an expensive Oriental cigarette.During her hospital work, Alexandra occasionally permitted herself a cigarette, but she never smoked in public or atsocial gatherings. This time she accepted, and Kandinsky gave her a light and lit his own."Ach," he fell back into Russian, "the lot of the emigrant. We have no word in Russian for what I am looking for, dukh,spirit, comes close, spiritualizm spoils it again, our much abused dusha, soul, is something else, and razum, the mind, istoo discredited for my purpose."He switched back to German. "Can one translate the concept ‘des Geistigen’ into any other language? Goethe uses itand Nietzsche, and of course, Steiner."He continued in Russian. "It is all of these together, razum, dusha, and dukh, controlled by the mind. The Germans92