August Macke

At the age of 17, Macke dropped out of school and began studying art at the Royal Academy of Art in Düsseldorf. In 1907 he travelled to Paris, where he was particularly impressed by the paintings of the Impressionists. After his return he began to study at Lovis Corinth’s art school in Berlin. In 1908 another trip to Paris followed with Elisabeth Gerhardt and the art patron Bernhard Koehler. In 1909 he married Elisabeth Gerhardt and moved with her to Tegernsee. On his honeymoon, which took Macke to Paris again, he met the Fauves and the Futurists. In 1910 he met Franz Marc, with whom he soon became close friends. In 1910 he moved back to Bonn, where he became friends with Max Ernst. In 1911 Macke contributed an article to the almanac “Der Blaue Reiter” and participated in the first exhibition of the artists’ association in 1911/12. He was also represented in the 2nd exhibition of the Blaue Reiter in 1912 with some graphic works, but increasingly distanced himself from the group. In 1913 he participated in Herwarth Walden’s ‘First German Autumn Salon’ in Berlin. In Bonn, Macke organised the “Exhibition of Rhenish Expressionists” in the same year. In autumn 1913 he moved to Hilterfingen on Lake Thurn, in the neighbourhood of Paul Klee and Louis Moillet. August Macke experienced great inspiration during his journey to Tunisia in 1914, on which the two artists accompanied him. At the outbreak of World War I, Macke volunteered for the front and fell on 26 September 1914. Since 1911, his works have been regularly shown at exhibitions, including documenta 1 (1955) and II (1964). In 1991, the “August-Macke-Haus” was established in his former residence in Bonn. Important works are in the Kunstmuseum Bonn and the LWL in Münster, where the estate is looked after.