Mystischer Kopf; Rabenflügel Iv 1918

Alexej von Jawlensky made this *Mystical Head* with oil paint sometime in the 1910s. Look at the face, it's like a map made of color! The way Jawlensky uses color here is so bold and intuitive. Patches of lavender, orange, and blue sit side-by-side, defining the planes of the face in a way that feels both abstract and deeply expressive. The black lines feel like they are holding the colors in place. Take the eyes, those dark pools that stare right through you. They're simple, almost cartoonish, but they carry such weight. I’m reminded of Emil Nolde's portraits, there’s the same raw emotion, but Jawlensky brings this sense of calm contemplation. It is this quiet ambiguity, this refusal to be pinned down, that makes the work so captivating.