August Macke Overview

(courtesy of www.augustmacke.com) Born on January 3rd, 1887, in Meschede, August Macke grew up in Bonn and Cologne. Being filled with enthusiasm about the painting of Böcklin, he began his studies at the art college and the arts and crafts school... [more]

(courtesy of www.augustmacke.com)

Born on January 3rd, 1887, in Meschede, August Macke grew up in Bonn and Cologne. Being filled with enthusiasm about the painting of Böcklin, he began his studies at the art college and the arts and crafts school in Düsseldorf. In 1907 August Macke travelled to Paris, where he saw the paintings of the impressionists, which fascinated and influenced him. Back in Germany he went to Berlin and attended the painting school of Lovis Corinth for a short time. After doing his military service for one year as a volunteer in 1908, the artist married - now in Bonn - Elisabeth Gerhardt. In 1909 he got acquainted with Franz Marc in Tegernsee, with whom he would be friends for the rest of his life. With their colourful and spacious, two-dimensional forms Macke's works from that time displayed clearly the influence of the painting of Henri Matisse and Franz Marc. In 1911 August Macke joined 'Der Blaue Reiter', a group of artists from Munich. On another trip to Paris with Marc he got to know Robert Delaunay and his orphic way of painting. Delaunay also visited Macke later, together with Guillaume Apollinaire. This colourful form of cubism made a lasting impression on him. The trip to Tunis with Paul Klee and Louis René Moilliet in 1914 also contributed to the development of his own style of bright, intensive coloration and crystalline design. On 26 September 1914 Macke fell at the western front in France at the age of 27. August Macke's world of paintings is unmistakable. Quiet compositions, scenes of nature, the open countryside or of places inhabited by monumental, faceless figures show his harmony-seeking look at the contemplative world of the regular citizen - until the outbreak of world war I.

[show less]