Women artists of Marianne Werefkin’s circle: sisters or rivals?: the case of Vera Abegg-Verevkine

ENUnpublished letters of Marianne Werefkin from the National Martynas Mažvydas Library in Vilnius provide insight into Werefkin’s early formative years in Lithuania and Poland. These early experiences, in largely hostile environments, taught her how to live in a multi-cultural milieu. Werefkin’s personal relationships with other women artists were complicated by her experiences with the male artists she admired most: the painters Ilya Repin and Alexei Jawlensky. Discussion centers on Werefkin’s contacts with the artist Vera Abegg, covering her time in St. Petersburg and Munich, and reveals Werefkin’s views on the role of woman in art.