Autumn Sound 1918

Editor: Jawlensky’s "Autumn Sound," painted in 1918, presents us with a field of soft-edged geometric shapes in watercolor. It’s a very muted palette, and I find it kind of somber, almost melancholic. What stands out to you as you interpret this work? Curator: I’m drawn to how these seemingly simple forms echo deeper, primal symbols. Consider the upright shapes – do they not resonate with figures, totems standing in the rustling silence of autumn? Editor: Totems... that's an interesting way to look at it! I was mainly focusing on the color. Curator: The color contributes, certainly. But Expressionism uses color less as description and more as emotive force. Look at that deep blue, almost a lament, juxtaposed with the faded gold; does it not evoke the transition from life's fullness to its eventual stillness? Consider also how this piece comes on the heels of unimaginable suffering of the first world war. How might you reconsider its interpretation given that knowledge? Editor: Wow, framing it within the war context makes a huge difference. It’s not just seasonal melancholy, it's the loss of life, the world changing. The colors feel like they are mourning something now. Curator: Precisely. These shapes, rendered in watercolor, also recall ancient cave paintings. The choice of material becomes a deliberate link to humanity’s first attempts to capture their world, their feelings, through symbols. What does the concept of the primitive or primordial suggest to you? Editor: Hmmm... A longing for simpler times, maybe? Before the chaos of modernity, which the war obviously shattered. Curator: A return to archetypes, to collective memory. "Autumn Sound," while abstract, is laden with cultural and psychological weight. Editor: I see that now. It’s like Jawlensky found a visual language for universal emotions. So much more than just abstract shapes! Curator: Exactly! Visual imagery offers a kind of symbolic, and sometimes deeply buried, history.