Marianne Werefkin (Tula 1860-Ascona 1938)
L’amazzone dell’avanguardia

edited by Mara Folini and Federica Pirani

exhibition catalogue: Museo di Roma in Trastevere 25 November 2009-14 February 2010

The book presents the art of Marianne von Werefkin, a Russian painter who is virtually unknown in Italy but who played a decisive role on the art scene at the turn of the 20th century.
Tied to Alexej Jawlensky for 30 years, she influenced Kandinsky, participated in and promoted the establishment of the Künstlervereinigung München and Der Blaue Reiter (she was dubbed the “horsewoman of the Blue Riders”), and experienced the upheaval of the renewal of the avant-garde movements, including that of the Dada group. Indeed, key figures of the era—representing all the arts—gravitated around her, from Klee to the Sacharoffs, Else Lasker-Schüler and Diaghilev.
Werefkin, who lived in Russia, Lithuania, France and Germany, was forced to immigrated to Switzerland during the First World War. Starting in 1918 the town of Ascona welcomed her and many others, becoming a hub of culture and experimentation. Ascona is home to the foundation named after her, which safeguards her legacy of works and documents.
The catalogue, published to accompany the exhibition held at the Museo di Roma in Trastevere, is an extraordinary opportunity to introduce art lovers to her boldly colourful paintings with subjects that are imbued with symbolic meaning even when they appear to be commonplace. It offers a selection of critical texts analysing the artist and her life.