3089 - Marianne Werefkin

Marianne Werefkin 1870 Tula – 1938 Ascona The Yellow Bed. Circa 1905 Watercolor and gouache on paper, mounted on cardboard Monogrammed lower right: MW. On the cardboard backing, a dedication to Diego Hagmann as a token of gratitude and friendship, signed “Marianne v. Werefkin” and dated Christmas 1930. Titled on a label on the reverse. Framed 24.8 × 34 cm (paper size) Galleria Castelnuovo Trudi Neuburg-Coray, Ascona (label on the reverse; dated there ca. 1905); private collection, Switzerland Marianne von Werefkin, Galleria Castelnuovo, Ascona, September 17–November 11, 1967, No. 3 (with illustration in the exhibition catalog) The dedication on the cardboard backing of this work, addressed to Diego Hagmann (1894–1986), attests to the personal connection between the collector and Marianne von Werefkin. Hagmann and his wife Carmen (1905–2001) met the artist in 1928 and supported her during a period of financial hardship. As a friend and patron, Diego Hagmann also championed the preservation of her artistic legacy and was involved in the founding of the Marianne Werefkin Foundation in Ascona in 1939. Marianne von Werefkin is considered one of the leading pioneers of Expressionism and had a significant influence on the European avant-garde through her work. Her art is characterized by expressive color, psychological depth, and a distinctive visual language. Born in Tula in 1870, she was encouraged early on due to her talent for drawing and received a thorough artistic education from Ilya Repin in Moscow. In 1896, she moved with Alexei Jawlensky to Munich, where she supported his artistic development for years and took a back seat in her own painting career to advance his. Only after a lengthy hiatus from her art did she turn her attention more fully back to her own painting and develop a distinctive artistic style. In 1909, she was one of the co-founders of the New Artists’ Association of Munich; later, she was closely associated with the Blue Rider circle. After World War I, she lived in Ascona, where she died in 1938. With expressive color and dynamic brushwork, Marianne von Werefkin creates an intimate yet suspenseful interior scene. The large four-poster bed, the dark wooden wardrobe, and the tall window define the composition. On the left side of the room, a woman in a black dress with a white collar sits with her back to the viewer, painting in the slanting light. Whether this is a discreet self-portrait from her time in Munich remains open to interpretation. However, the figure invites an intriguing interpretation of the work as a reflection on von Werefkin’s own life as an artist and places her at the center as a creative force. The cool gray and blue tones of the walls, the windowpanes, and parts of the floor stand in striking contrast to the bright yellow of the bed curtains, the warm reds and ochres, and the dancing orange-pink patches of light in the foreground. With simplified forms, striking contours, and a free, at times sketch-like painting style, von Werefkin transforms an everyday scene into an expressive, almost theatrically staged experience of color and light. Auction Date: November 28, 2026 Approximate Auction Time: 2:30 p.m. CET