August Macke lived only 27 years, but his work is vibrant and varied. He is sometimes associated with German expressionism. In fact, he developed significantly despite his brief artistic career.
He was born on 3 January 1887 in Meschede, Germany, where his father was a civil engineer. From 1904 to 1906 he was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf and at the same time attended evening classes at the School of Decorative Arts in order not to limit his studies to academic subjects. In 1907, during the summer, Mack... Voir plus >
August Macke lived only 27 years, but his work is vibrant and varied. He is sometimes associated with German expressionism. In fact, he developed significantly despite his brief artistic career.
He was born on 3 January 1887 in Meschede, Germany, where his father was a civil engineer. From 1904 to 1906 he was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf and at the same time attended evening classes at the School of Decorative Arts in order not to limit his studies to academic subjects. In 1907, during the summer, Macke went to Paris for the first time and discovered Impressionism in the works of Manet, Degas, Seurat and Pissarro. Macke then visits the studio of Lovis Corinth (1858-1925) in Berlin. In Berlin he met Bernard Koehler, a great collector and patron of the Blue Rider. He then travelled through France and Italy to buy some objects to add to Koehler's collection. Bernard Koehler was the uncle of his future wife, Elizabeth Gerhardt, whom he married in 1909. The marriage took place in Paris in 1909.
The couple moved to Tegernsee, 50 kilometres from Munich, where Macke painted about two hundred photographs. He then moved to Bonn. Macke began to get close to Franz Marc and Vassily Kandinsky and helped to draw up the Blue Rider Almanac (1912), which codified the foundations of German Expressionism. In February 1912, Macke participated in the Blue Rider exhibition at the Tannhauser in Munich, but the exhibition disappointed him. Macke then moved away from Kandinsky and the Blue Rider and in 1913 he painted a caricature of the Blue Rider. He then travelled to Tunisia with Paul Klee and Louis Molliet. His paintings include Coloured Forms I and Coloured Forms III, as well as Coloured Composition in Homage to Bach and In Front of the Hat Shop.
August Macke was killed on the Champagne front on 26 September 1914.
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