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August Macke

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August Macke was a famous German painter who loved to express feelings.

August Macke, 1912, Rokoko, oil on canvas, 89 x 89 cm, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Norway
August Macke, 1912, Rokoko, oil on canvas, 89 x 89 cm, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Norway

He was a leading member of a group called Der Blaue Reiter. This name means "The Blue Rider." Macke did not try to paint things exactly as they looked in real life. Instead, he used bright colors and different shapes to show moods. This way of painting is called Expressionism. He also used a style called Fauvism to make his art special.

Macke - Seiltänzerin (1913)
Macke - Seiltänzerin (1913)

To make his art, Macke looked at many different styles. He first learned from French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Later, he met an artist named Robert Delaunay in Paris in 1912. This meeting was like a revelation for him. Delaunay used a style called chromatic Cubism, which some called Orphism. Macke used these ideas in his own work. For example, his painting "Shops Windows" uses ideas from Delaunay and Italian Futurism. He combined these styles to create something unique.

August Macke - Türkisches Café - G 13325 - Lenbachhaus
August Macke - Türkisches Café - G 13325 - Lenbachhaus

August Macke was born on January 3, 1887, in Meschede, Germany. His father, August Friedrich Hermann Macke, was a builder and an artist. Macke grew up in places like Cologne and Bonn. He studied art at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. During his life, he traveled to many places. He visited Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Britain. He even went to Tunisia in April 1914. This trip was very important for his final paintings.

August Macke, 1912, Rokoko, oil on canvas, 89 x 89 cm, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Norway
August Macke, 1912, Rokoko, oil on canvas, 89 x 89 cm, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Norway

Many of Macke's paintings are now worth a lot of money. In 1997, a painting called "The Couple at a Garden Table" sold for £2 million. Another work, "Market in Tunis," sold for $4.1 million in 2000. In 2011, "In the Bazar" sold for £3.96 million at an auction. One painting, "Woman with a Parrot in a Landscape," sold for €2.4 million in 2007. This specific painting was once taken away in 1937 because it was called "degenerate." Today, his art is kept in many famous museums around the world.

August Macke - Türkisches Café - G 13325 - Lenbachhaus
August Macke - Türkisches Café - G 13325 - Lenbachhaus

We can still remember Macke through museums and prizes today. The August-Macke-Haus is a museum in Bonn. It is located in the house where he lived from 1911 to 1914. There is also an award called the August Macke Prize. It was first given in 1959 by several German districts. Sadly, Macke died in the First World War in September 1914. He died while serving at the front in Champagne, France. His last painting was called "Farewell," and it showed the gloom of the war.

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🖼️ Images & Media (4)
File:Straße mit Kirche in Kandern.jpg
Straße mit Kirche in Kandern.jpg
File:August Macke, 1912, Rokoko, oil on canvas, 89 x 89 cm, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Norway.jpg
August Macke, 1912, Rokoko, oil on...
File:Macke - Seiltänzerin (1913).jpg
Macke - Seiltänzerin (1913).jpg
File:August Macke - Türkisches Café - G 13325 - Lenbachhaus.jpg
August Macke - Türkisches Café - G 13325...
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