A rush of color greets the viewer, as if the landscape itself is waking from a long winter’s sleep. The brushwork in Landscape in Füssen (spring) by Alexej von Jawlensky feels urgent and alive, drawing the eye along the curve of a path that leads into the heart of the scene. The trees, rendered in rapid, rhythmic strokes, act as sentinels framing a distant mountain whose slopes are caught in the shifting light of early spring.

Shadows are painted not with grays, but with deep blues and purples, while the ground is streaked with pinks and pale greens, suggesting snow melting into new grass. Every mark seems to vibrate with the energy of the season’s change, inviting the viewer to step into this moment of renewal. Painted in 1905, this work belongs to a period when artists across Europe were searching for new ways to capture both the seen and the felt. Jawlensky was part of a generation that embraced bold color and expressive gesture, moving away from academic realism toward something more personal and immediate.

Landscapes like this were rarely grand commissions; they were often painted outdoors, quickly, as studies or declarations of artistic intent. In this case, the painting’s presence in the Sotheby’s collection hints at the journey such works have taken—from private experiments to coveted objects in the art market. The world it comes from was one of rapid change, and this painting, with its restless surface and luminous palette, sends the viewer back to the image, searching for the pulse of spring in every brushstroke.