From the beginning, Jawlensky's art was characterised by his individual imagination. The motif to be painted was always only a stimulus and instrument for his art, which in its depiction always went beyond imitative naturalism. Always coupled with the expression of his subjectively felt inner reality, Jawlensky found his art, which did not deny realism, but did not follow it mimetically. From the very beginning he followed his own path of abstraction, which developed stringently and increased in the course of his artistic life.
Accordingly, Jawlensky was never interested in narrative art; he always avoided the anecdotal. Mythological, literary and historical themes were of no relevance to him. There are only a few themes that he works on, but they are sufficient for him to describe his artistic concerns: Landscapes, still lifes and above all the image of man. He painted still lifes at the beginning and again at the very end. Essential for the artist was the use of colour: simple, intense tones determine his palette. The pure colours are placed next to each other on the canvas and are supposed to mix in the eye of the beholder, the colour determines the form. Hints of spatiality increasingly disappear, motifs are cut into, the frame of reference is eliminated, the outline becomes increasingly important.

His path there is marked by his move to Munich, his visits to Anton Azbé's art school and an inspiring contact with artistic models, which he also encountered during his travels in France between 1906 and 1907: van Gogh, the Fauves , Cézanne, Gauguin and the Neo-Impressionists. Jawlensky was not afraid to try out different "styles" in search of his own artistic expression. He was inspired by Marianne von Werefkin, who was already at his side in Russia, and by his friendship with Kandinsky, Marc and Münter - who initially formed a group with others in the New Artists' Association in Munich, from which they later withdrew and held joint exhibitions under the name Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) - and published theoretical writings on modern art.