Picture "Mediation: The Prayer" (1922), framed

Expelled from Germany as a Russian citizen in 1914, during the beginning of World War l, the artist settled in Switzerland and later in Wiesbaden, Germany. During this time he created his famous abstract heads. Jawlensky died of a serious illness in 1941.

"My art is meditation or prayer in colours", Jawlensky once said, and indeed his work is characterised by great religiousness. This is particularly noticeable in the series of works of the Saviour’s faces and the abstract heads, which Jawlensky summarises in his memoirs as "saints' heads". The influence of orthodox iconography is unmistakable, and they were already understood as a modern version of the icon by contemporary artist colleagues. The human face in many variations – mostly in strong, even bright colours – had already been a focus of his work before. With the saints' heads, he became more restrained in colour and reduced the subject of the portrait to the face itself. They seem de-individualised without losing expressiveness. A progressive abstraction, lead to an iconic form, which in the sequence seem like a search for an unattainable divine archetype.

Influenced by Fauvism, Alexej von Jawlensky painted with bright colours, fierce brushwork and dark outlines. His works are among the most sought-after works of classical modernism and can be found in the world's great museums.