Pocket Guide -> Media -> Oil on board -> Schokko with a Red Hat
Schokko with a Red Hat
by Alexej Jawlensky · Russian, 1864 - 1941
| Creation Date: | 1909 |
| Media & Support: | Oil on board |
| Dimensions: | 29 ¾ x 27 7/8 inches |
| Credit: | Gift of Howard D. and Babette L. Surak, the Donors to the Campaign for Enduring Excellence, and the Derby Fund |
Alexej Jawlensky resigned his position as an officer in the Russian army to become a painter. His style was influenced both by the brilliant colors of the Fauve painters and by the way actors in the theater transform themselves using makeup, costumes, and lighting. Here is a portrait of an exotically costumed model with a fan. Her yellow-green face appears as it might look under stage lighting and is complemented and intensified by the surrounding reds. “Schokko” (the model’s nickname because she loved hot chocolate) radiates a powerfully artificial and theatrical presence.
