The Russian painter Alexej von Jawlensky (1864-1941) was one of the important contributors to Expressionism, to which he added a meditative, or inward reflective, component of unique power.

Born March 13, 1864 (old calendar), on the noble family's estate near Torschok in Russia, Jawlensky was the son of a colonel and was himself destined to become an officer. While still attending cadet school he discovered the arts, and by obtaining a transfer as a young lieutenant to St. Petersburg, he was able to study at the Academy of Fine Arts and under the important Russian realist painter Ilya Repin (called the Russian Courbet). There he met the painter Marianna von Werefkin, the daughter of a general, who was to devote a large part of her life to encouraging and furthering Jawlensky's career as an artist. In 1896, by then a captain, he left the service and moved with Werefkin and Helen...