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.
In November 2003 this painting sold for US$ 8,296,000 and in February 2008 for GB£ 9,400,000 (US$ 18.4 million).