Estate of the artist
Private Collection, Locarno (1959)
Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles (1963)
Serge Sabarsky Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1980

Wiesbaden, Nassauischer Kunstverein, Freie Künstlerschaft Wiesbaden, 1926, probably no. 38 (titled Erleuchtung)
Hamburg, Kunstverein, Europäische Kunst der Gegenwart, 1927, probably no. 315
Milan, Palazzo Reale, Alexej von Jawlensky, 1995, no. 64, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Dortmund, Museum am Ostwall, Alexej von Jawlensky: Reisen, Freunde, Wandlungen, 1998, no. 260, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Zurich, Kunsthaus; Lausanne, Fondation de l'Hermitage & Duisburg, Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Jawlensky in der Schweiz 1914-1921, Begegnungen mit Arp, Hodler, Janco, Klee, Lehmbruck, Richter, Taeuber-Arp, 2000-01, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Krems, Kunsthalle, Alexej von Jawlensky: Magische Bilder. Die Retrospektive, 2003, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Clemens Weiler, Alexej Jawlensky, Cologne, 1959, no. 257, illustrated p. 245
Maria Jawlensky, Lucia Pieroni-Jawlensky & Angelica Jawlensky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Catalogue raisonné of the oil paintings, London, 1992, vol. II, no. 1087, illustrated in colour p. 283
Tayfun Belgin, Alexej von Jawlensky: eine Künstlerbiographie, Heidelberg, 1998, illustrated in colour p. 117

Executed on linen-finish paper, laid down on card. There are artist's pin-holes in the top two corners and there is no evidence of retouching visible under ultra-violet light. Apart from a few tiny spots of paint loss in the pink area near the right edge and in the top right, and a faint line of surface abrasion above the mouth, only visible at close inspection, this work is in very good condition.
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Jawlensky’s mature work was dominated by several series of paintings on the theme of the human face, throughout which his treatment of the features becomes increasingly stylised and abstracted. The present work belongs to the series of Abstract Heads, characterised by a grid of predominantly horizontal and vertical lines and brightly painted blocks of pigment, while at the same time displaying features of the series of Saviour’s Heads. The typically long, U-shaped face with a strong symmetrical structure was first conceived in 1918, and Jawlensky worked on this series until 1935. A growing interest in Indian philosophy and the life of Indian yogis appears to have had a strong influence on the series, as suggested by the meditative closed eyes and the overall reduction of the composition to the purest pictorial elements of colour and line. Gradually abandoning the signs of individuality and character, and focusing on the formal elements in his painting, in his mature work, of which Abstrakte Kopf: Erleuchtung II is an excellent example, Jawlensky arrived at a style through which he was able to convey a sense of harmony and universal spirituality.