Published by Hatje Cantz. Edited and with text by Annegret Hoberg, Volker Adolphs. Text by Klara Drenker-Nagels, Ursula Heiderich, Uwe Koch, Tanja Pirsig-Marshall, Uwe M. Schneede, Gregor Wedekind.
The friendship between Franz Marc (1880–1916) and August Macke (1887–1914) was of vital importance to both painters. Their close bond lasted four years and came to an abrupt end with the death of Macke shortly after the outbreak of World War I. This catalogue brings together paintings, watercolors, drawings, handcrafts, objects and documents from these two artists, demonstrating the extent to which they influenced one another in their work. While Macke, seven years younger than Marc, took a sensual and spontaneous approach to the visual world, his friend possessed an elevated, theoretical vision, seeking the spiritual unity of existence through the image. Despite conceptual, cultural and political differences, a deep mutual affection characterized their joint undertakings, such as the exhibitions of the Blaue Reiter or their conversations on Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism and the work of their contemporaries.
Published by Hatje Cantz. Text by Klara Drenker-Nagels, Ina Ewers-Schultz, Andreas Gabelmann, Ursula Heiderich, Helen Hirsch, Marianne Keller Tschirren, Tanja Pirsig-Marshall, et al.
August Macke (1887–1914) is regarded as one of the most outstanding protagonists of the Blaue Reiter movement. At the heart of this publication is the young Expressionist’s time at Rosengarten House on Lake Thun in Switzerland from October 1913 to June 1914. Macke developed a manner of painting entirely his own, as evidenced by the numerous studies and oil paintings reproduced in this volume. Here, as with Cézanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire, we learn to view the landscape surrounding Lake Thun as a modernist topos. The first publication to shed light on Macke’s affinity for the country, August Macke and Switzerland offers a revealing overview of how place and landscape can inform not only an artist’s subject matter but also his style. Readers are also offered glimpses into the trip to Tunisia that Macke, Paul Klee and Louis Moilliet planned in April 1914 during their Swiss sojourn.
August Macke and Switzerland
August Macke: Watercolors