From the beginning, Jawlensky's art was characterised by his individual imagination. The motif to be painted was always only a stimulus and instrument for his art, which in its depiction always went beyond imitative naturalism. Always coupled with the expression of his subjectively felt inner reality, Jawlensky found his art, which did not deny realism, but did not follow it mimetically. From the very beginning he followed his own path of abstraction, which developed stringently and increased in the course of his artistic life.
Accordingly, Jawlensky was never interested in narrative art; he always avoided the anecdotal. Mythological, literary and historical themes were of no relevance to him. There are only a few themes that he works on, but they are sufficient for him to describe his artistic concerns: Landscapes, still lifes and above all the image of man. He painted still lifes at the beginning and again at the very end. Essential for the artist was the use of colour: simple, intense tones determine his palette. The pure colours are placed next to each other on the canvas and are supposed to mix in the eye of the beholder, the colour determines the form. Hints of spatiality increasingly disappear, motifs are cut into, the frame of reference is eliminated, the outline becomes increasingly important.
