August Macke

August Macke

Page 4:

Self-Portrait with a Hat, 1909.

Oil on wood, 41 x 32.5 cm.

Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn.

Authors:

August Macke & Walter Cohen

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ISBN: 978-1-78160-777-0

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In the joy of a sunny day, invisible ideas materialise quietly.

· August Macke

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Biography

3 January 1887: August Robert Ludwig Macke was born the third child and first son of the art-loving civil

engineer and contractor Friedrich August Macke (1845-1904) and Mary Florentine Macke

(1848-1922) in Meschede, Sauerland.

1887: The Macke family relocated to Cologne.

1897-1900: August attended the Cologne gymnasium.

1900: He moved to Bonn, where he attended secondary school. His artistic talent and his extraordinary

artistic interest were significantly pronounced at an early age, even from his school days.

1903: Macke met his future wife Elisabeth Gerhardt, the daughter of the Bonn manufacturer Carl

Gerhardt. With over 200, portraits he made her his most significant model.

1904: Against the wishes of his parents, he left school a year early to pursue an education at the

Royal Academy of Art in Düsseldorf. Criticising the curriculum, which mainly consisted of

copying existing artworks, the 18-year-old left the academy in November 1906. Incidentally,

Macke attended various courses at the Düsseldorf School of Applied Arts.

1905: First trip to Italy with Walter Gerhardt.

1906: He designed stage decorations and costumes for the Düsseldorf city theatre under the

direction of Louise Dumont and Gustav Lindemann.

With the poets Willy Schmidtbonn and Herbert Eulenberg, along with sculptor Claus Cito, he

undertook a journey along the Rhine to Holland and Belgium followed by a short stay in London.

October 1907:

On a trip to Paris, the works of French Impressionism made such an impact on him that he

attended classes of German Impressionist Lovis Corinth (1858-1925) at the Academy of Fine

Art in Berlin.

1908: After a trip to Italy, Macke, at the request of Bernhard Koehler and Elisabeth Gerhardt,

accompanied them to Paris as a consultant to complement KoehlerÊs collection with works of

French Impressionism.

1908-1909: One-year military service, which he completed in October 1908, left him no time for art.

1909: On the 5 th of October, Macke married Elisabeth Gerhardt after a six year relationship.

Journeyed via Frankfurt, Strasbourg, Basel, and Bern to Paris, where Macke met Carl Hofer.

At the invitation of the Schmidtbonns, the couple moved to the Tegernsee lake at the end of October.

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1910: At the beginning of the year, Macke met Franz Marc (1880-1916)

In September, Macke visited an exhibition of the New ArtistsÊ Association in Munich including

works of the Fauves and early Cubist paintings.

At the end of 1910, the family moved back to Bonn. Here, in his new studio, Macke would

create more than 330 paintings.

The coupleÊs first son, Walter Macke, was born.

1911: Macke played an active part in drawing up the Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter) almanac, published

by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, and to which he contributed his „masks‰.

In the first exhibition of the Blue Rider, which took place from December 1911 to January

1912 in the Modern Gallery Heinrich Thannhauser in Munich, Macke displayed three works,

including The Storm and Indians on Horseback (both 1911).

1912: Macke took part in the second Blue Rider exhibition, initiated by Kandinsky and Marc under

the title Black & White in MunichÊs book and art dealer Hans Goltz. However, he increasingly

artistically dissociated himself from the group.

That same year, he was a member of the Working Committee for the Special League Exhibition

(Sonderbund-Ausstellung) in Cologne and also participated in other important exhibitions in

Moscow, at the Cologne Secession, at the Museum of Decorative Arts, at the Thannhauser

Gallery in Munich, and at the Jena Kunstverein, etc. This was followed by a journey to Paris

with Marc and the formation of an acquaintance with Delaunay and Apollinaire.

1913: Wolfgang, the MackesÊ second son, was born. Along with other artists, Macke participated

in the exhibition Rheinischer Expressionisten (Rhenish Expressionists) in Bonn which he

organised with Franz Marc. He took part in the organisation of the First German Autumn

Salon in Berlin in 1913.

In autumn, the family moved out to Hilterfingen on Lake Thun where many of the most

important works in his repertoire were created.

April 1914:

June 1914:

August 1914:

Together with Paul Klee and Louis Moilliet, Macke travelled on a two-week journey to Tunisia.

The photos, drawings, and watercolours which he created there, served as a form of artistic

inspiration for him long after his return.

The Mackes returned to Bonn.

After the outbreak of World War II, Macke volunteered to serve in the German army. On the

8 th August he was admitted as an infantryman in the Prussian army.

26 th September 1914: August Macke died in action; a warrant officer of the 5 th Company by Perthes-lès-Hurlus in

Champagne. He left behind around 6,000 drawings in his sketchbooks and around 3,000

individual sheets.

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August Macke (1887-1914) was born in

Meschede in the Sauerland region and is of

Westphalian origin. However, as he moved

into the Rhineland very early and spent most of his short

life on the Rhine, he has always been described as a

typical Rhinelander.

When the Cologne Art Association opened the

near-historical exhibition ÂThe Young RhinelandÊ at the

beginning of 1918, the heart of the event was the first

retrospective exhibition for August Macke, who died in the

The Old Violonist

1906

Oil on canvas, 65.6 x 46 cm

Private collection

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second month of the war. „Young Rhineland‰ represents

Macke in a purer sense than the well-known artist

association that was founded later in Düsseldorf. Anyone

who dismisses MackeÊs art with the term „decorative‰ fails

to understand that the young Rhenish artistÊs paintings

signify everything that defines character and strength.

This art is largely attributable to its optical

appearance which is closely interlinked to the

indescribable joy and richness of colour of the

Rhenish landscape. Earlier Düsseldorf artists were

also attempting to reproduce these same landscapes,

Fisherman on the Rhine

1907

Oil on cardboard, 40.3 x 44.5 cm

Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

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but the majority of these productions, with the exception

of the German illustrator and painter Caspar Scheuren

(1810-1887), appear extremely pale and unreal.

Macke also focussed on the appearance of objects,

and did not always avoid veduta-like productions. You

may look in vain for the healthy Rhenish sensuality in

the later productions of the Romanticism on the Rhine,

even where it remains totally terrestrial.

Whilst Macke looked for the soul of things, the

appearance of his works was not unfaithful, as

substantiated by his work The Rhenish Landscape with

Carnations in Green Vase

1907

Oil on cardboard, 34 x 22.5 cm

Private collection

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Factory (1913). The subject for this painting was

literally on his way when leaving the northern parts of

Bonn where his home was located, in order to walk to

the Rhine. And there, encamped behind the seven

mountains, was the factory; for most people a

frustrating contrast, but the painter counted it a blessing

and much more than just a „theme‰.

The then 26-year-old artist, with the resources of

early Expressionism and his own range of colours, so

rarely seen amongst the palettes of professional

Study for a Portrait of Elisabeth Gerhardt

(from memory)

1907

Oil on cardboard, 41.6 x 33 cm

Private collection

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landscape artists, had created the unity of nature and

audaciously integrated work of man. The remarkable

sureness of his design, which shows up in this small

picture, can already be found in his very early works,

such as the Naked Girl with a Headscarf (1910).

Macke spent a short time at the Düsseldorf Art

Academy. However, he owes more to Paris, which he

frequently visited. Of the younger artists in Paris, Robert

Delaunay (1885-1941) was closest to the Rhinelander.

More important was his friendship with Franz Marc

(1880-1916), which was forged in 1909 in Tegernsee,

Stroller

1907


Private collection

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where the newlywed had spent some time with his

young, and rarely sympathetic, wife. In the first volume

containing his letters, recordings, and MarcÊs

aphorisms, published in 1920, Macke dedicated ten of

the most beautiful aspects of his friendship with Macke,

including an obituary from the battlefield of 25 th

October 1914. I hope this will finally put an end to the

legend that Macke was only on the receiving end in this

friendship. For me, there never was the slightest doubt

that the younger artist was superior in originality of his

pure artistic talent to the somewhat doctrinal painter

Tree in a Wheat Field

1907

Pencil and oil on cardboard, 30 x 35.8 cm

Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund

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of the „Blue Horses„. In Bavaria, Kandinsky (1866-1944)

entered into a friendly relationship with Macke; the

artists associated with the Blue Rider saw him as a

younger brother and loved him for his genuine and

cheeky personality.

In 1913, Macke sojourned for some time with his

family in Hilterfingen at Lake Thun, in Switzerland. It was

probably one of his happiest times, not least for the

progress in his artistic work. The following year, along

with his friends Paul Klee (1879-1940) and the Swiss

painter Louis Moilliet (1880-1962), he travelled to Africa.

Macke, whose art culminated at such an early age,

The Rhine in Hersel

1908

Oil on canvas, 40.5 x 50.5 cm

Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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produced his strongest works from Tunisia, especially the

sparkling little oil paintings from Tunis. These include,

for example, the different versions of the Turkish cafés.

Here again, Macke was a typical Rhinelander, because

of this empathy which had once placed the old Colognians

into a dangerous dependency on the Dutch, such as Dirk

Bouts (1415-1475), assimilating foreign influences on the

design. These designs are not completely assimilated in

all cases; there are paintings by Macke, especially those

fvwhich are flirting with Cubism, that remain experimental

and are not entirely convincing. Macke is always at

his best when he combines colours with his peculiar

sense for bouquet-like eurhythmics together; strong, lively,

Elisabeth at her Desk

1909

Oil on wood, 22 x 16 cm

Private collection

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bright colours, as in the 1912 picture of the Four Girls

in the Museum Kunst Palast in Düsseldorf (since 1918).

What may perhaps have seemed a little hard in early

images became, since his trip to Africa, radiant and

warm. It is impossible to say what Macke could have

given us, had he survived the war.

„We, the painters, are well aware,‰ wrote Franz Marc,

„that with the elimination of its harmonies, the colour in

German art will have to fade by several tone sequences

and will become a duller, drier colour tone. Out of all of us,

he has given the brightest and clearest shades to colour

as clear and bright as his whole nature was. Certainly,

Elisabeth Gerhardt Sewing

1909

Pastel, 53 x 41.5 cm

Galerie Utermann, Dortmund

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the Germany of today does not realise how much it

owes this young, dead painter, how much he worked,

and how much has been achieved.„

MarcÊs Germany of Today is the one of 1914. In the

Germany which strove to overcome and resurrect itself

with superhuman effort amidst outer and inner turmoil

after the war, human beings like Macke had become

increasingly rare. Macke was a young, truly gifted man

of good cheer and perfect health, whose serenity of mind

was contagious. A mutual friend saw Macke just prior to

leaving for war at his home on Thun Lake, and after he

had taken his leave and driven by the small cottage on

Self-Portrait with a Hat

1909

Oil on wood, 41 x 32.5 cm


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the steam boat, the artist appeared again in unsouciant

morning clothes, under the projecting roof, and

towering like a giant: „With joyful movements of his

whole body, he laughingly waved goodbye.‰

On 26 th September 1914, August Macke was hit by

a fatal bullet near Perthes in Champagne.

Macke on „The New Program‰ [1914]

The tension between things in nature moves us. We

respond to this stress by seeking to shape it.

Life is indivisible. Life in image-form is indivisible. Life

in images is the simultaneous tension of different parts.

Portrait with Apples

(Portrait of the Painter’s Wife)

1909

Oil on canvas, 66 x 59.5 cm

Lenbachhaus, Munich

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The vitality of tension decreases the more similar the

parts and the whole group: the noise of water droplets

or of a water pipe. A painted canvas.

The vitality of tension increases with the nonuniformity

of parts and groups. A sonata by Mozart. A

still life by Renoir or Cézanne.

Excerpts from old pictures show mostly peaceful

transitions. The individual tensions usually go together

with the total tension in calm contrast. (There are of

course exceptions, such as Greco). Space-creating

colour contrasts as opposed to simply chiaroscuro seems

to me to have been recognised first by Delacroix and

Portrait of the Painter’s Wife with a Hat

1909


LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster

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the Impressionists in its full meaning for the liveliness of

the painting. Since then, artists have always attempted

to use this means to lay down a uniform format of the

pictorial space.

In Pissarro and SignacÊs works, for example, the

contrasting groups are present. But they are more similar

to each other, more juxtaposed than the letters on a

printed page, so that an almost grey impression of the

entirety is created. For Cézanne, the contrasting groups

are controlled to a simultaneous whole, so that the

impression is more like the closed unit of a single initial.

Our Living Room at Tegernsee

1909-1910

Oil on wood, 16.5 x 22.5 cm


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A peculiarity of the „new‰ images is that in all

sections, contrasting groups are to be found, in any

colour; a successive rebounding red-greenish-yellow

or more formal; colliding surfaces and edges.

Most of the new images appear to me to be designed

so that the sharp universal contrast of the diverging

groups is the means of composition, as opposed to a

smooth falling-into-place of contrasting groups in previous

works. I believe that in striving to shape a more active

life in the image through the contrast, most of the „new‰

painters are similar in all the diversity of their individual

interests. Picasso leaves the rest of his old masterly

Forest Stream

1910


Indiana University Art Museum, Indiana

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tranquility of his early works and examines the keenly-felt

tension, made of coloured and little contrasting surfaces.

The movement in his paintings is a simultaneous tug of

colliding surfaces.

Matisse developed the Impressionist means in his own

way to achieve a free expressive creation of the perception

of nature. He does not always succeed to give the colour

sufficient depth, so colour remains two-dimensional.

Delaunay works the colour-contrasting groups in concert

without chiaroscuro (or perhaps better, he works them

apart, but to one single unit), creating a violent backand-forth

movement in his paintings, a movement which

View of Tegernsee

1910


Private collection

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he designed in very realistic images, as well as in works

where the movement is an end in itself. He reproduces

the movement itself, the Futurists illustrate the movement

(like the Japanese illustrate the movement of rain, or the

cavemen a running reindeer herd, and Wilhelm Busch

the drunken Meyer). Once a Futurist achieves movement

in the picture, he has proven his worth as an artist.

Incidentally, one is also inclined to allocate from

some old pictures all that is sanctimonious, pathetic,

feudal, or cozy as illustrative additions, under which the

simple living composition suffers when the artist takes a

greater interest in the illustrative aspect. There are many

The Hospital in Tegernsee

1910

Oil on canvas, 36 x 49 cm


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instances across several paintings of the 15 th , 16 th , and

17 th centuries, which are inaccurate and superficial. The

peopleÊs aesthetic perception of the arts has changed,

and this has actually happened very quickly. Since

when has Egyptian, early Greek, early Christian and

Romanesque painters, Chinese, and exotic art been

considered truly great art? Not long ago, we all had

good reasons to explain why they could not do better.

However, in order to be immune to any accusations of

my enjoying primitives, I will confess that I exceedingly

love Giotto, the Sienese, the Cologne masters, the early

Flemish school of Ferrara, the Dutch still-life painters,

Portrait of Franz Marc

1910

Oil on cardboard, 50 x 38 cm

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin

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Manet, Renoir, and many others, in whom I see the

sensitivity of the „spirited‰. The lively does not

necessarily need to coincide with the imitation of nature.

I believe that not many „art lovers‰ share the view that

Privy Counsillor Bode recently expressed in an attack

on the „new art‰: Art is imitation of nature. It was

thanks to the urge for living expression that Gothic

churches were built, MozartÊs sonatas were produced,

and also African dances including the corresponding

masks created without the permission of the art critic.

And so it will, I think, remain for a long time.

August Macke

Still Life with a Milk Jug and Flowers

1910


Private collection

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The Masks by August Macke

A sunny day, a cloudy day, a Persian pier, a sacred

vessel, a pagan idol and an immortelles, a Gothic

church and a Chinese junk ship, the bow of a pirate

ship, the word pirate and the word holy, dark, night,

spring, cymbals and their sound and the shooting of the

ironclads, the Egyptian Sphinx, and the beauty mark on

the cheeks of the Parisian courtesan.

Ibsen and MaeterlinckÊs lamp light, the village road

and ruin painting, mystery dramas during the Middle

Ages and the scaremongering of children, a landscape

Still Life with Hyacinths and Carpet

1910


Private collection

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by Van Gogh and a still life by Cézanne, the whir of the

propellers and the neighing of horses, the jingoistic

cries of a cavalry attack and the war ornament of the

Indians, the cello and the bell, the shrill whistle of the

locomotive and the dome-like shape of the beech

forest, Japanese and Greek masks and stages, and the

mysterious, muffled drum sound of Indian fakirs.

Is life not worth more than food and the body more

than clothing?

Incredible ideas manifest themselves in tangible

forms. Tangible by our senses in the form of a star,

thunder, a flower, etc.

Still Life with Palm Leaves

1910


Private collection

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Form is a mystery to us, because it is the expression

of mysterious forces. They are vital for knowing the

secret powers, the „invisible God‰.

The senses for us are the bridge from the

unfathomable to the tangible.

Showing the plants and animals means feeling

their secret.

Hearing the thunder is feeling its secret.

Understanding the language of forms means to be

closer to the secret, living.

Creating the forms means living. Are children not

creators who draw directly from the secret of their feelings,

Women Reading at the Table

(Elisabeth and Sofie Gerhardt)

1910

Oil on canvas on cardboard, 64.5 x 58 cm

Private collection

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more than the imitators of Greek forms? The „savage‰

artists who have their own forms, are they not as strong

as the shape of thunder? The thunder expresses itself, as

does the flower; each force manifests itself as a form. And

so does the human being. Something is driving him to

find the words for concepts, the evident from the unclear,

conscious from unconscious. This is his life, his creation.

Like human beings, forms change and develop anew.

Blue only becomes visible via red, the size of the

tree via the smallness of the butterfly, the youth of the

child via the age of the old man. One and two is three.

The formless, the infinite, the zero remains unfathomable.

White Pot, Flowers, and Fruit

1910


Franz Marc Museum, Kochel

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Man expresses his life in forms. Any form of art is an

expression of his inner life. The exterior of the art form is

its interior. Every genuine art form is a manifestation of

our inner life. The outside of the art form is its inside. Each

authentic art form emerges from a reciprocal interrelation

of man and the factual materials of the forms of nature, of

the art forms. The scent of the flower, the happy jumping of

the dog, the dancer, the wearing of jewellery, the temple,

the image, the style, the life of a people, and a cultural era.

The flower opens when dawn creeps in. The panther

ducks down at the sight of its prey, and his power grows

as a result of his view. And from the tension of his

Rose Azalea I

1910


Private collection

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strength results the scope of his jump. An art form, a

style, emerges from a tension.

In the second half of the 19 th century, the

Impressionists found a direct connection to this natural

phenomena. They created a new style, with the intent

of representing the organic natural form of light, in the

atmosphere; that was their slogan, which changed in

the course of time and in their work.

The Impressionists drew their artistic inspiration from

art forms of the farmers, from the „primitive‰ Italians,

the Dutch, the Japanese, and the Tahitians. They were

all inspirations like the natural forms themselves. Pierre-

Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Paul Signac (1863-1935),

Rose Azalea II

1910-1911


Private collection

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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), Aubrey Beardsley

(1872-1898), Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), Vincent van

Gogh (1853-1890), or even Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

are as far removed from Naturalists as El Greco (1541-

1614) and Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337).

Their works are not only the expression of their inner

life, they are also the form of their souls in the material

of painting. It does not necessarily suggest the presence

of a culture; a culture that would be as similar for us as

the Middle Ages, the Gothic culture in which everything

has a form, a form born only out of our lives. Strong

and natural like the scent of a flower.

Elisabeth at her Desk (Elisabeth Reading)

1911


Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern

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We have forms, in our complicated and confusing

time, that will touch everybodyÊs heart as much as an

African fire dance or the mysterious drums of the Indian

fakirs. The philosopher stands as a soldier next to the

farmerÊs son. Both grabbed up by a parade, whether

they like it or not. At the cinema, a professor watches

the film alongside a saleswoman, at the theatre the

ballerina charms the most loving couples as strongly as

the solemn tone of the organ in a Gothic Cathedral will

move believers and nonbelievers.

Forms are strong expressions of talented life. The

difference amongst these expressions consists in sound,

Walk in the Woods

1911

Watercolour and pastel, 48 x 63.5 cm

Private collection

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word, colour, and materials such as wood, stone, or

metal. However, it is not necessary to understand every

form, because after all, not every language in the world

is understood by everyone either. Artists and apparent

art connoisseurs previously relegated all art forms of the

so-called primitive peoples to the area of Ethnological

arts or arts and crafts with a dismissive wave of the

hand; this is, at the least, surprising.

What you hang as a picture on the wall is

something, in principle, which is similar to the carved

and painted pillars in an African hut. For the African,

his idol is the tangible form of an unconceivable notion,

Indian

1911


Private collection

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the personification of an abstract concept. For us, the

image is the tangible form of the vague, intangible idea

of a deceased person, a plant, an animal, and of all the

magic of nature, of lifeÊs rhythm.

Does Van GoghÊs Portrait of Dr Gachet (1890,

Musée dÊOrsay) not originate from a similar intellectual

life as the amazed grimacing face of a Japanese

juggler on a woodblock print? The mask of the diseasecausing

demon from Sri Lanka is the horror gesture of

a natural people, with which the priests conjure up

sickness. For the grotesque ornamental artifice of

masks we can find analogies in the monuments of the

Gothic and also in the buildings and inscriptions in the

Indian Riding a Horse

1911


Bernhard Koehler Collection,


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Mexican jungle. The significance of the dead flowers in

the portrait of the European doctor are the emaciated

corpses for the mask of the conjurors of malady.

The bronze casts of the inhabitants of Benin (West

Africa), discovered not until 1889, the idols of the Easter

Islands in the Pacific Ocean, the collar of the chief from

Alaska, and the wooden mask from New Caledonia speak

the same strong language as the Chimeras on the Paris

Notre-Dame Cathedral and the grave stone in Frankfurt

Cathedral. As if to mock European aesthetics, forms

speak a sublime language everywhere, and as early as

in childrenÊs play, through the hat of a model, and in the

joy of a sunny day, materialise inwardly invisible ideas.

The Macke’s Garden in Bonn

1911


Westfälische Landesbank AG, Girozentrale, Düsseldorf

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They reflect the joys and sorrows of people; therefore,

people are behind the images, the cathedrals, the temples

and masks, behind the inscriptions, the musical works,

the show pieces, and dances. Where they are not behind

it, where forms are empty or causeless, no art can exist.

Styles can also come to an end by inbreeding.

The intersection of two styles will create a third, new

style. The renaissance of the ancient world, the

disciples of Schongauer, Mantegna, and Dürer.

Europe and the Orient.

The Impressionists found the direct connection to the

natural phenomena. The representation of organic nature

in the form of light, in the atmosphere, was their shibboleth.

Mother and Child

1911


Private collection

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It changed under their hands. The art forms of farmers, the

primitive Italians, the Dutch, the Japanese, and Tahitians

became stimulators just like the natural forms themselves.

Renoir, Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec, Beardsley, Cézanne, Van

Gogh, Gauguin. All of them are as little Naturalists as El

Greco and Giotto. Their works are the expression of their

inner life; they are the form within the artistic souls in the

materials of painting. This does not necessarily suggest the

presence of a culture, a culture that would be for us what

the Gothic was in the Middle Ages, a culture in which

everything has a form, born out of our lives, or just out of

our lives: naturally, and as strong as the scent of a flower.

The Church of St Mary in Bonn Covered with Snow

1911

Oil on cardboard, 101.5 x 80 cm

Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg

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MackeÊs Letters to Franz Marc

Bonn, after 9 December 1910

Tagernsee [crossed out]

After our request, our friend Job played the three

corresponding sounds on the piano for me, well, she

claimed to play the same important role in music. So:

Blue, Yellow, Red – parallel phenomena: sad, happy,

brutal (in tones as well as in colours).

All the lines (or melody) determine the sequence of the

colours (or sounds). Ascending and descending melodies

The Church of St Mary with Houses and a Chimney

(View from the Studio)

1911



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that are in full integration. The descending parts may

already be included in the ascending ones and vice versa.

The colour complex led by means of lines (melodies) is

the question to the answer of the countercomplex. (Signac

is a very freelance musician of colours).

Light and dark is an essential element of the melodic

direction, as well as yellow, purple, orange, blue, green,

and red. This explains the longing for pure sounds

without grey and mishmashed colours.

The boundaries of yellow, red, and blue blend into

orange, violet, and green, whereby the fact of getting

lighter corresponds to the gradual ascent of the piano

Still Life with Stag Cushion and Flowers

1911


Museum Behnhaus Drägerhaus, Lübeck

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sounds, the composition of the octaves of the piano (I

believe there are eight of them) corresponds to the number

of concentric circles. Further merging of neighbouring

colours results in blue-green, blue-red, except blue (i.e.

hot and cold blue), yellow-red, blue-red except red, etc.

The composition associated with these means now

has to happen at an „indeterminate hour from a still

hidden source at this time„, joyful, painful, and powerful.

I am currently preoccupied by thoughts on Japanese

erotic pages, by Giotto, Michelangelo, but also

preoccupied by the horses that are painted in Sindelsdorf.

I daily enjoy your horses and bears. My goodness, if only

Our Street in Grey

1911



74

75

I could paint love like the Renaissance people have

painted suffering! I study the forms of suffering in order

to learn it. In general, the idea of cavalry battle, or

infanticide, or the Rape of the Sabines is divine. People

interiorised so much and that explains their great art.

Today you go into the „interior‰ of subways and coffee

houses. The painters, however, escape into solitude and

work on themselves. This may not be contemporary and

modern, but useful for the art (I believe).

You can see what state I am in.

You, Spaniard! Let me gently tell you something.

Bonn is a real city of pensioners. Everything is very quiet,

Street and Church in Kandern

1911


Augustinermuseum, Freiburg im Breisgau

76

77

respectable, and unremarkably unobtrusive. The area

in which we live, has much to offer. Hounds, riders, and

equestriennes, children who have a go at each other.

Then, around you, the houses look at you with living

eyes. I am extraordinarily fond of this part of the city.

Furthermore, we have a provincial museum with

magnificent Roman sculptures, mosaics, gold, and

stone jewellery, in front of which you would be lying

on your knees and praying like a Roman emperor. Then,

magnificent „old Dutch‰, old Italians, two Velázquez,

absolutely everything you need. The museum is

wonderfully bright and modern. The directorial assistant

Confluence Point

1911



78

79

Dr Cohen, a friendly, hard of hearing enthusiast of

contemporary art, has gained a reputation that suits me

just right. He told me that he had sent a photo of NauenÊs

large work to Helmuth. Probably as regards to the „Neue

Künstlervereinigung München„ (Munich New ArtistÊs

Association). I concern myself again a great deal in

theory, I have fabricated a colour ring for myself. I think

it is very important to get to the bottom of all the rules

of painting, especially in order to link the modern to the

ancient. Please give me your thoughts about the following

items that I collect, and for which I would like you to look

Children in a Park

1912



80

81

for something new and let me know. Maybe itÊs not

new to you. My intuition says it is three colours: Blue,

Yellow, Red.

So, farewell now. I am happy when you are working.

Give us animals that we can admire for a long time.

May the hoofbeats of your horses reverberate to the

most distant ages. Therefore, shoe them well. Please

write to me soon.

Greetings to Ms Franck, Niestlé, Legros,

and yourself.

Your August Macke

Still Life with Apple Bowl and Japanese Plate

1912



82

83

Bonn, the 2 nd day of Christmas, 1910

Dear Franz!

You have given us a great joy. So we were quite

stunned over the Bröngsgen [bronze statuettes]. They

are absolutely splendid. One can confidently grope

around it in the dark. Besides, it is a huge stimulus for

my own work on my half-finished casts.

The tile bowl in cadmium is unique, and I have

probably already raved too much about the

delightful figurines.

Walter’s Toys

1912


Städel Museum, Frankfurt

84

85

It may be a comfort to you that we take good care

of the little men. Miss Franck sent us the wonderful plum

fur chestnut uncle (he seems to me a baritone singer).

Bubi had to admire him in all positions.

Please be so good as to convey our sincere gratitude

to her. We were all very pleased. Hopefully, you will

enjoy the small „Camoins‰ I sent you as much.

Now a little professional chit-chat. I was in Copenhagen

and saw two Matisse paintings, which delighted me.

A large collection of Japanese masks. Divine! Free

association. Hung in poor light.

The Painter’s Wife (Study for a Portrait)

1912


Neue Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin

86

87

Kanoldt (Alexander Kanoldt) appeared again as the

self-evident. The obvious self-evident, the self-evident

by itself. I also saw works here from Kandinsky and Miss

Münter. A small sketchbook with images from throughout

the association. I have the impression that the secessions

(as a whole) present far too many „well painted‰ works.

In Munich, artificialities by Münzer, Erler, Eichler (not

to speak of others) are painted. The association is very

serious and the dearest of all those arts to me. But it does

not move me. It interests me greatly. The Bossi, Münter,

and Kanoldt are perhaps the weakest and therefore

the most obvious. Kandinsky, Jawlensky, and Bechtejeff

Path

1912



88

89

Erbsloh have huge artistic feeling. But the means of

expression are too big for what they want to say. The

sound of their voice is so good, so fine, that what is

said remains hidden. Therefore something human fails

to appear. They strive, I think, too much for form. One

can learn a lot from this striving. But early stuff by

Kandinsky, Jawlensky, and also some of mine seem a

little empty. And the heads of Jawlensky look at me with

a little too much colour. With blue and green. I hope

you understand what I mean. It misses the self-evidence

of Busch, Daumier, sometimes Matisse, and Japanese

Erotikas to reach greatness.

Children and Goat

1912


Private collection

90

91

I remember when I saw your horse lithography for

the first time. It fascinated me and still does, because the

horse in the outdoors was expressed so well. The circling

of the animal bodies. With certain of your tempera

nudes it was a little different. I found them a little

dragged. Something like a gothic-woo. My point is: it is

the simplicity of Egypt, Giotto, Frans Hals, and Daumier

that should drive us. A simple thought, circling bears,

girls reading, standing people, flickering or quietly

smouldering landscapes, red apples, yellow lemons, and

brown horses. The more simple, the greater the thing, the

more difficult [it is] to find the language for it. However,

Garden Restaurant

1912


Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern

92

93

we should not be solitary, but remember in particular

within all the jumble to recollect ourselves. (I do not write

this for you because I know you have your own thoughts,

but simply to show you my thoughts). YouÊve probably

seen the photograph of the big picture of Nauen. I have

the feeling that much of it is distorted. I have seen brilliant

drawings of him. The first impression was just thrilling. But

this monumental work? It simply lacks simplicity. The picture

does not speak to me simply enough: Here I am, take me,

IÊm pleased to be with you if you want me to do so.

I visited Thorn Prikker in Hagen. He has drawn a huge

glass window on cardboard. Amazing in its kind. I have

Couple in the Forest

1912


Private collection

94

95

asked him for some measurement systems, of which

Helmuth spoke, but he did not know the meaning. It is a

means to secure the feeling of composition, of which T.P.

is convinced that all Italians have consciously applied.

A rectangular area, with diagonal and other adjacent

lines a-b. The designated points generated by crossing

these lines should always include the main points of

the image, as well as lines (legs, wrinkles, ridges, etc.).

Drawn-in lines are respectively brought into the

relationship. It is actually a systematic paper wrinkling,

but not uninteresting. With a piece of thread, you can

check the measurements of the lines on the pictures and

Evening

1912


Private collection

96

97

especially with some Venetians, Raphael, and others, you

can find an application at intersections of hands, button

splits, and other important graphic points. I was very

pleased about your colour theory. It is similar to mine:

melancholy, brutality, joy, man, substance, and woman.

And the convergence of red and yellow is also very true,

but the intensity of the pigments possibly depends on the

painter. In pure theory, it is hardly conceivable because

of the trisection. But that is not how it is, one part of red

weighs at least ten parts of green, whilst one part of green

is swallowed up by ten parts of red. I agree very much

with MatisseÊs idea (about the effectiveness of stains and

Four Young Girls

1912


Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf

98

99

marks on various surfaces). Also the study of means of

expression, which he so rightly recommends, that is why

the Japanese express themselves so well with their brushes

because they also write so beautifully with them.

Now, dear Marc Franzl, I have you to thank for the

procurement of the miniature that we have wheedled out

of our dear brother-in-law after long discussions of its

pros and cons as a Christmas gift. It means, that I get half

of the cave, which is gorgeous, and he gets the warriors.

Now please be so good as to try with your great skill to

convince Hirsch to let me have the pages for a better price.

Large Bright Window

1912


Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hanover

100

101

Maybe he will send me some Japanese erotica to view.

He must get off to a good start. Tell him that. If it does

not work, it does not matter either, but we should at

least try. I will return a few books on Japanese arts and

craft to Proheretzky because I was bored. Maybe you

could choose something for me (woodcut, Netzuke, or

whichever you like). There are five books at 3.50, but it

should be excellent. He has some little erotic leaflets.

Now farewell, I would love to hear from you and

warm greetings!

From your August Macke

Coloured Composition (Tribute to Bach)

1912


Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen am Rhein

102

Bonn, postmarked 24 March 1911

Dear Franzl!

So yesterday, before the arrival of your card today,

I learned that the space for this yearÊs

Sonderbundausstellung (the „Separate League of West

German Art Lovers and Artists‰) is limited, therefore

only Rhinelanders have been invited. You will, however,

be invited, as a consolation, by the Barmer Museum

(Dr Rich) to a collective exhibition (I believe in June).

„The Rhinelanders‰, it makes me scream with laughter.

The director of the Sonderbund has explained to me

that I should wait a little. I am apparently too small a

Russian Ballet I

1912


Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen

104

105

„Rhinelander‰ but I do not care. In the Worringerklub

I chatter enormously for everything that is good and

beautiful. Hoetger (we can also swank) will pay me a visit

soon. I met him in Cologne. I belabour all art historians

thoroughly, and, I believe, with success. Yesterday, I

dragged a Kandinsky and a Münter in our apartment

with difficulty. MünterÊs flat is not so adapted for the

„public fight‰. It is hard to get people to come to the

place. Good Lord, IÊm terribly curious about your stuff,

and tell me about the French Thannhauser and Hofer.

Say hello to the Association for me from the still small

August and Lisbeth.

Small Zoological Garden in Brown and Yellow

1912


Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden

106

107

Bonn, postmarked 15 June 1911

Dear Marc Franzl and wife!

On Saturday in the Sonderbund, a „supper‰ will take

place, which aims at bringng members and artists

together. If you feel like joining, simply let me know

by telegraph, and let us meet Saturday afternoon in

Cologne. Your Barmer exhibition is over. Did you get

the offer of 200 Marks on the small painting of horses?

Dr Rich is still trying to get a picture for the museum.

Walk Among Flowers

1912


Neue Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin

108

109

Yesterday I spoke with the Cologne museum director

and suggested bringing the exhibition to Cologne, which

is likely to succeed. I was very excited by your work.

By the way, in Aachen a French exhibition on

Herbin, Picasso, etc. takes place. If you do not come on

Saturday, I recommend you go to Aachen directly after

Düsseldorf (Sonderbundskrieg), swhich, incidentally, is

hardly worth the visit. Then, Hagen (visit Thorn Prikker),

and finally Cologne, where we will pick you up.

Walkers by the Lake I

1912


Private collection

110

111

Or even better, Cologne-Bonn directly (Rhine railway,

if you travel light) and from Bonn to Hagen and

Düsseldorf. In any case, I will probably be part of the

Working Committee next year, the Koehler Honorary

Committee and benefactor of the Sonderbund, at the

same time, the giant Palace of Art is, so to speak, rented.

A great modern giant exhibition in response to the

Vinne issue is building up.

Send a telegramme, when youÊre here.

August and Lisbeth Macke

Zoological Garden I

1912



112

113

Bonn, 1 September 1911

Dear Franz!

IÊm in a very good mood. It has been bothering me for

a good month. Whether it is something good or bad, I

do not know. I realise that you can not force feelings; I

therefore expose myself to it, daily, hourly, even for my

own sake I just close my eyes with a feeling of well-being

and happiness. Münter did me a lot of good. I think

Kandinsky is so much the spiritual inspirer of her

paintings also, that I cannot completely agree with her

view that her works are entirely personal, just as little as

I can imagine myself without a strong French influence.

Coloured Composition (Lake Thun)

1913

Pastel on paper, 29 x 44 cm


114

115

Apart from that, we got on well with each other. I have

a feeling that she has a tendency to mystery (see Still

Life, Saints, Lilies in a Garden Corner, Sharply Lit

Thundercloud, Lamps and Old Folks Chairs). There is

something „German‰ in it, something of an altar and

family romance. I was very, very fond of doing it. But

nevertheless, I prefer Kandinsky. From his pictures

emanates, in the long run, a sort of energy which is

wonderful. He is also a romantic, a dreamer, a fantasist,

and a storyteller. But what he is on top of this, is the main

thing. He is full of unlimited life. The areas over which one

dreams, strays, and never sleeps. His stormy riders are on

the coat of arms hanging in front of his house, but there is

Coloured Forms I

1913

Oil on cardboard, mounted on wood, 53.1 x 38.5 cm


116

117

not only a storm in rocks, castles, and oceans, but you will

also find the infinitely delicate, pastoral storms in all parts

of his work; in yellow and blue and pink, in the gentle

suggestive pace of the Rococo Ladies. ItÊs like the buzz of

millions of bees or the whir of violins with an infinitely

gentle drumbeat. What I feel in all that is life, KandinskyÊs

life, calls out to me (well, it sounds stupid) with pictures.

The Mysterious with him is infinite life, there is much

happiness in him and much, much more seriousness. I

often wish now that I had a nice picture of the present time

here now. I enjoy this one so much. I also feel sorry for the

people who can not enjoy it. Lisbeth also enjoys it.

Coloured Forms II

1913


Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen am Rhein

118

I shall now turn to me. I „try‰ so much out again. I

have not yet written to Koehler. I have difficulties in

taking up my pen to do so. I feel so much weakness and

incompleteness in my work, and the only the way out

that I know of is to wait for myself to progress and that

is what I am hoping for.

As regards to your letter about the association, I must

answer you, I get your point and I am fully committed to

what you write and what you suggest. It is only to my

advantage. But you would not believe how much this

promotion-making makes me sick and tired, without

which you cannot achieve anything. On Monday, we

travel for a month to visit my sister and my mother in the

Coloured Forms III

1913


Private collection

120

Black Forest, to Kandern, Hotel „Krone‰. We need to

economise and will live there free of charge. Otherwise

we would have been in Sindelsdorf. But thatÊs not likely

this year. On Monday, I will be in Mannheim at your

exhibition. You see, in the Sonderbund book you are

at the end next to Heckel and Schmidt-Rottluff as a

German futurist painter. Please keep me posted with

your news, and tell me how you like the Kirchner works.

Greetings to everybody in Sindelsdorfer and

Murnau. Münter has forgotten the scroll, give it to her

sometime or other.

August

Fashion Window

1913

Watercolour and gouache on pencil, 29 x 22.7 cm

Museum Ludwig, Cologne

122

123

Bonn, before Christmas 1911

Dear Francis and Mary,

The last few weeks have been so eventful and uneventful

for me that I could never write a quiet, nice letter to you

as I would have liked, every day, every hour, even

every minute. IÊve really done my very best in the

image, musical, and poetic show. Impossible to be any

sharper with the public and inside myself, I could not

be more disappointed, notwithstanding the regionÊs

biggest impact here at the „Golden Rhine‰. First, when

unpacking the works there was extreme excitement of

Couple Walking on a Path

1913


Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg

124

125

the Gereon ladies. „Oh, if only it works out.‰ By the way,

I must give a speech off the cuff. Counter reading seems

to be tedious. I therefore must rely on my mouth, I will

always be increasingly secure in the evening. Three days

ago someone asked me what I really wanted to say. Two

musicians had cancelled. I could find no one to recite

the poems. I ran around for one day to find a musician,

whom I finally found (and what a good one). The lecture

was pencilled out on large drawing papers, which were

cut into four pieces and put together with pins. When I

arrived in the afternoon satisfied in the solemn assembly,

People at the Blue Lake

1913


Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe

126

it seemed to me, looking at the people, as if all this was

not at all necessary. Flechtheim and Reiche clung to me

like limpets and whispered in my ear again and again:

Well, Mr Kandinsky, Mr Headteacher, etc. You see, now

I have already been promoted to be a Headteacher for

these people. Only after I had a big battle of words

(Diet of Worms: Kiss my a ...) the pleasure of hearing

Dr ReicheÊs lecture with his „monocle‰ talking on

„Naturalism‰ that everyone should have gone through

once in life, reminiscent of Japan and Greece (vases

and brush drawing). And Flechtheim asked me in front

Greetings from the Balcony

1913

Watercolour, 30 x 24 cm

Private collection

128

of the assembled audience why CampendonkÊs wife is

so ugly (a joke). I asked him why he, himself was so

ugly, and the situation had yet been saved.

The „biggest and most modern‰ Cologne art

collector, the corset manufacturer Herz, asked why

painters take their models from the sewer. Flechtheim

whispered in his ear: „You corset manufacturer!‰ A

French stone sculpture and a Thorn-Prikker were sold.

The best art collectors from the Rhine were very

interested. The relevant public lies exceedingly behind

us, the artists, in terms of a „nose‰ for beautiful flowers.

Four Girls on a Balcony

1913

Watercolour on charcoal, 30 x 45 cm

Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf

130

131

The „gang‰ must first tear a rose to shreds, and then,

of course, you cannot smell it any more. What is

written in the Kandinsky and Blue Rider book is lifeblood,

which at best is transformed into black pudding

in the stomachs of people who fugaciously satisfy their

hunger one evening. But nonetheless we will not be

tired! And we wish you, dear good people over there,

a good, mild, warm, and happy holiday from the

bottom of our hearts.

Your August

Hats Shop

1913



132

Bonn, 8 January 1912

Dear Franz!

Cohen told me this week, that in the next few days the list

of artists to be invited to the great Sonderbundausstellung

will be established (definitively). As I was elected last year

as a member of the working committee and I anticipate

personal work (Flechtheim Deusser, etc.) I wrote a pretty

energetic letter to Dr Reiche, explaining that IÊm not used

to it, that I work a lot in propaganda for art, and that I

am a great guy altogether and should be respected a

Children at the Grocery Shop I

1913



134

135

little more by the Sonderbund. Once I had sent off these

daring little lines, I had the feeling that it was a bit too

sharp, and so much the more as I lied about already

tethered negotiations with artists. You have to be fairly

cunning, otherwise the „pirate‰ Flechtheim will be

working his own way [...].

Now, please let me know immediately which good

pictures by Pechstein, Kirchner, etc. would qualify (without

talking to them about the invitation). Would you please

discuss the matter with Uncle Bernard and ask him to

make his best works available as may be the case.

Children and Goat

1913



136

137

The city of Cologne has approved 25,000 Marks for

the interior decorations. It is also very important for his

collection to ensure the best. I am also to write to him at

the same time. Discuss this together.

Reiche is happy now, also about Kandinsky and

wants to keep what we sent him. But there are many

items with Flechtheim, and I will write to Kandinsky, and

ask him to send more. I will write to Kandinsky

immediately because of the Russians.

Then I will provide for a memorial exhibition for

Kahler. The poor man. I cannot believe the † in the

Strollers (Grand Outdoor Promenade)

1913



138

139

catalogue. ItÊs so sad. In addition, a memorial exhibition

for Mrs Wygodzinsky.

Do not talk too much about the different things,

except to Uncle Bernard. I want to have everything

down on paper ready at the meeting. You understand?

I must be the tool for you in Munich, in Berlin, and in

Russia. Nauen has a great effect in the Cologne

secession. Me, too. Everything else is horrendous. (Except

Thuar.) Kandinsky wrote from Zurich (an invitation).

I was pleased to come to Berlin. But first of all the

caucus, and I have 800 M. debts. It just will not work.

Woman in a Green Jacket

1913


Haubrich Collection, Museum Ludwig, Cologne

140

141

With warmest regards, also from Helmuth and Lisbeth,

August

P.S. Go and check up on Nauen. He is a very fine artist,

judging by his painting. Matisse has written a long letter

to him about it.

I forgot to mention the very friendly letter I received

today from Reiche. He thanked me and told me that he

is pleased about our co-operation. So please send me

a list of good pictures for June immediately! The name

or numbers, so that I have stock.

Park by the Water

1913


Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hanover

142

143

Bonn, 22 January 1912

Dear Franz!

On Saturday in the Sonderbund meeting, all of my

suggestions were accepted. It seems that the exhibition

will be very good.

On Saturday and Sunday, I went to the Blue Rider

exhibition. Again, a very interested audience attended,

and vivid conversations took place about the works.

Rousseau, Delaunay, Epstein, Kahler, Kandinsky,

Campendonk, and some parts of the Burljuks works,

Pierrot

1913


Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld

144

145

that interested me the most. I was pretty disappointed

with our contributions. All of them gave me a feeling of

incompleteness, and of not much skill. It has just hit me that

the Blue Rider do not reproduce my works. Until now, I was

convinced that other artists are more important. It will not

be easy to persuade them to give something away. But I

have to say that I personally prefer the lute player, who was

finally not sent here, to much of the exhibition. Self-love,

blindness, and hen-pecking behaviour play a large part in

the Blue Rider. The grandiose words spoken by the great

spirit of the movement at the very beginning resound over

Promenade

1913



146

147

and over in my ears. Kandinsky may say this in person,

and much more, about the upheaval. This is particularly

unappealing to me after this exhibition. I advise you,

just to work, without thinking too much of the Blue Rider

and the Blue Horses. This good old Rousseau. And

good old Helmuth. Campendonk is somewhat daintily

decorative. I believe art is not based on will, nor on

need, like Schoenberg says, but on skill. Schoenberg is

unappealing to me, and Bloch weak. Greetings to you

and good Mary.

Your August

Sunny Path

1913



148

149

Bonn, after 23 January 1912

Dear Franz!

IÊm quite glad that you did not take my letter seriously.

But I have to refer back again to several different topics.

I do not argue against the Blue Rider group, but against

various crippled points on its horses. After all, there has

to be someone who argues. Otherwise you truly see

everything too much in blue.

With all these reproductions it is the same: I came to

Munich and Sindelsdorf and found most reproductions

ready, when assuredly the two ladies of the board,

Strollers at the Lake

1913

Watercolour, 22.5 x 29 cm

Private collection

150

151

one of whom (the lovely Mary), withdrew as a matter of

course to my suggestion with a lot of graciousness (which

I will never forget). Take note, not a single proposal

was made to me or to you by Kandinsky to reproduce

anything from me, but I then said to Maria, after no one

had made any attempt to ask for me, that I had no

desire to participate, to which no objection was made

further. My remarks were a kind of self-defense against

a non-consideration of my own work, especially after

the editorÊs ladies had been previously considered.

And now, on top of it all, Schoenberg! He really

made me angry from the outset, these green-eyed

Yellow Jacket

1913

Watercolour, 29.5 x 44.5 cm

Ulmer Museum, Ulm

152

153

watery bread rolls with that astral look ... I will not say

anything against the self-portrait viewed from behind.

But these are those few nuggets worth the buzz about

the „painter‰ Schoenberg? Your image on glass is not

even there, the one of Kandinsky is wonderful, and

CampendonkÊs is not quite clear.

All of my outcry is based on reciprocity, which means

you transferred my aquaintance from private life and

from the editorial notes used (shared with Kandinsky),

to lofty words like „new eras‰, and to discerning the

wrong, so completely mediocre, overthrow, that I have

always had the feeling you take on too much. And then

I realised that I had to warn you, because as Blue Riders

In Front of the Hat Shop

(Woman in a Red Jacket and her Child)

1913


Erik Blumenfeld Collection, Hamburg

154

you focus too much on the spiritual. Kandinsky stands

alone (as a Russian) and on the basis of his

development. You did not really need the pictures. But

do not put them away from the easel too freshly

painted, and your pictures should not be too large.

We have already seen and learnt together all sorts

of things in the Koehler collection (after the Blue Rider

exhibition). And Girieud, with his „un peu enfantin‰

Na Na Na! His ducks and fairy tale frogs. Kirchner

works well. Pechstein is a bit sloppy and not quite

typically himself.

With cordial greetings from house to house, August

Yellow Sail

1913

Watercolour over pencil on drawing paper, 24.2 x 16.4 cm

Ziegler Collection, Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr

Mülheim an der Ruhr

156

157

Bonn, 5 February 1912

Dear Franz!

I have so much to do and have just written six pages to

Uncle Bernard. Helmuth has behaved badly in many

ways against me and now he writes strange advice in

relation to my behavior. The conflict that you have with

Dr Reiche is none of my concern. Kandinsky sent me a

snotty letter from Reiche. It is impossible to come into

conflict with Reiche because of Sonderbund reasons.

I silently tell him my opinion, over a beer, as well as to

Untitled

1913-1914

Coloured chalk, 16 x 9.5 cm


158

159

many others and obtain much more than you might with

your raising of the roof with a possible brawl. The first

thing I heard about Dr ReicheÊs behavior towards the Blue

Rider exhibition was KandinskyÊs letter. Now Helmuth

writes pompously that in Sindelsdorf they believe that I

would wear my heart on my sleeve with Dr Reiche. I have

not and I would not have done so. On the contrary, I am

looking to slickly explain everything to people and have

brought the Gereons club to a lively operation Interest

1a. Partly understanding. Almost limited to loving only the

pictures by Miss Worringer, Oppenheimer, and myself.

Flamingos at the Zoo

1913-1914

Watercolour on pencil on paper, 22.5 x 25.6 cm



160

161

Incidentally, I cannot complain about the Sonderbund.

My suggestions have been accepted throughout.

Kandinsky wrote to me about agreements with

Hagelstange, via closed collective exhibitions of the Blue

Rider, CB, MB, bridge, etc. Heckel also wrote to me.

Hagelstange remonstrated with me, he alone could not

definitely bring anything to a close. There remains the

possibility of inviting the group of people and, on my

proposal at the meeting, hang the winning items together

in one room and also include the names of the groups. Is

it necessary for all children to have a name? Let us be

satisfied that all the invitations have been made, they are

Fashion Shop in the Arcade

1913


Private collection

162

163

good, and the way we have all wanted them to be. The

people of the Sonderbund have carried out so much work,

even the nasty Flechtheim, who everybody, just like us,

judges to be someone who often needs to get a roasting.

Anybody can make a mistake. The Blue Rider is a group

of „artists‰, the Sonderbund consists of art lovers. „A

commission is a society of individuals whose common

stupidities cannot reasonably be granted to a single

individual.‰ It happens everywhere. The Blue Rider, the

Futurists, who solemnly declare in its prospectus, that they

would dispense with nude painting for ten years, „the great

epoch of the spiritual‰. We all are children, in good faith,

Fashion Shop

1914



164

165

and wearing our hearts on our sleeves. In the Sonderbund,

I have accomplished everything that was dearest to me and

you. I slowly achieve even more. But I am also convinced

that I have a pretty sound knowledge of art lovers; museum

people. Maybe more than Kandinsky and yourself. And

when people come to Munich, you will personally find

plenty of adequate opportunities to adjust to what does

not meet your expectations. Just do not proceed too

brusquely. I am convinced that we should keep our cool

and that everything will slowly work out in this matter. Of

course, I am ready to admit that what you are doing, I

am not indifferent to its success. I do not interfere between

Children in the Harbour I

1914


Private collection

166

you and Reiche. My influence in the Sonderbund is very

large and evolves in a very favourable way right now.

I agree with Sturm. I expect another photograph,

which I will send you once I have it. But do not wait for

it. It is not so terribly important to me. Just go to print,

so that we can see the Blue Rider soon. The work has

drained me a little and I get too little time for my own

work. If I forget something or forget to answer everything,

please do not be angry with me. In important matters

and in meetings, I do not forget your things. Please write

to Kandinsky with the gist of this letter. Kandinsky wrote

against the Blue Rider because of the atmosphere,

View of the Harbour with Children

Seated on a Low Wall (Duisburg)

1914



168

its outwardly strong success and strong interest. Tell

him this and about the „clubs‰ also. Against the

principle of „non-invitation-to-the-association‰ seemingly,

no commitments can be made. No need for all the

New-Secessionists i.e. to join, right? Not even

Schoenberg. Kandinsky should not get himself worked

up. I myself lose my cool often enough over here, and

regain it at the banquet meals. He is Russian and

Asian, and can paint naughty, very interesting pictures,

but which are competely incomprehensible to other

people. I appreciate him very much. But the pope is

fallible, too. And he often behaves like a pope.

Couple at the Garden Table

1914


Private collection

170

Greetings to lovely Maria and warm greetings

to yourself.

Your August and Lisbeth

P.S. The letter from Weiss is enclosed. It is too insipid. In

relation to the deer, heÊs right. I like them very, very

much, more than the Blue Rider pictures. I will also

endeavour, going along with the times, not to be

considered in the eyes of the art world as a student of

Marc and Kandinsky. This is my success.

Couple in a Park

1914



172

173

Bonn, 28 April 1912

Dear Franz!

Greetings! The beautiful little blue horses made us very

happy. Bubi would have loved to sit on it straight away.

In the Sonderbund, I was elected upon my own request

to the Art Committee. It was quite interesting in the last

session. Cassirer was present. He is a smart man. He

declared on behalf of Liebermann, that the latter could

not participate in the exhibition because Liebermann

At the Pier

1914

Watercolour, 21 x 24.6 cm

Private collection

174

175

could not abandon „his people‰, because it would

look as if he had switched to another alliance. It was

such a subtle allusion to an invitation from the Secession

people, Beckmann and the others, but which was

outright rejected, as well as the fact that Liebermann

was magnanimously turned down. I had a debate with

Cassirer, in which I told him, among other things, that

the Secession has been presenting five to six Matisse

works annually for five years. Matisse who does not

share their concepts, in fact with the result that he

Bright House II

1914


Private collection

176

would have gained with these few pictures an immense

amount of followers. I wonder whether they also fear

this for Liebermann. He stated that Gauguin was a man

à la Stuck and Böcklin. Anyway, the whole new school

has in its sense the same characteristics as this

movement. But I answered cuttingly to him, so that it

took him a quite moment to get back on his feet, but of

course he always succeeded. He is quite a rascal. To the

best of my beliefs we cannot convince him. Only bend

his ears.

Garden Gate

1914



178

This week we went to see Nauen, who is painting

six large murals, which will apparently be excellent. Do

you know a Dr Grisebach in Jena? He recently sent

someone to organise an exhibition of my work for the

Jena Kunstverein. He said that he also had a drawing

of me. I have no idea, but I have agreed for June. I have

not yet any further plans for the exhibition. I had in the

noon issue of the Berlin paper a glorifying critique by

Osborn, which I will send to these people. Has nothing

appeared in the Munich papers about the collection?

Garden at Lake Thun

1914



180

181

Uncle Bernard has bought seven pieces and slightly

boosted our finances in this way, which was most

necessary. You have sold well in Frankfurt, on which I

congratulate you. They are acquaintances of Dr

Luebbecke. Emma Luebbecke complained about your

high prices, 1600 M. etc., whereupon it cleared up the

misunderstanding and I told her that people should make

you an offer. ThatÊs all, my dear Franz and Maria. The

other day I saw the new birds calendar of 1912. Are you

still so interested in Sindelsdorf? We, in Bonn, are as well.

Greetings, Your August

Hat Shop on the Promenade

1914

Watercolour and pencil, 51.5 x 73 cm


182

183

Bonn, 14 May 1912

Dear Franzl!

Thanks for the Blue Rider! So it has been published after

all. And the result is quite good. Taken from a purely

spiritual point of view, the book seems to me to be like

a flea jumping up and down on a mahogany table with

a lively Bonanza Bonanza, getting you annoyed and

upset without being able to catch it. God be merciful!

I will have to swallow the pill here on the Rhine. I have

been getting accustomed by and by to adopting a terribly

unpleasant laugh when somebody asks me a stupid

question about something which I myself do not even

Young Girls Under the Trees

1914


Pinakothek der Moderne, Bayerische

Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich

184

185

know, for example, „What is up with Picasso?‰ This has

the advantage of making the people themselves feel even

more damned stupid and will then, in order to make up

for it, really get involved. Well, in a few days, the jury will

decide on the Sonderbund. I am looking forward to it.

Indeed, dear, dear friends, this visit entirely meets our

desire. But there was always something that kept us from

writing. Four Americans have been here for three weeks,

a cousin and a married couple, but they all are housed

at my motherÊs, because our little Bubi has been afflicted

by a slight scarlet fever for about five days. The trouble is

mainly the isolation of six weeks. Our Anni is completely

with him in our guest room and the adjacent room.

Girl with a Fishbowl

1914


Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal

186

187

Doors are glued and on each step we put a bowl of

sublimate. Hopefully it will not get worse. He is for the

time being always cheerful and of good spirits.

I had immediately sent your painting to Frankfurt at the

time to this good old spiritual worker. Campendonk wants

to go to Berlin. IÊm glad for him. But what is his lady doing

during this period? But please, pass on kind regards from

me, and tell him that the arts and craft story has led for

the time being „for me‰ only to disappointment.

Now my warm greetings to you, and „may your

hands be guided, even in the dark‰.

Your August

House in a Garden

1914


Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg

188

189

Letter from Bonn [postmarked: 25 May 1912]

Dear Francis and Mary!

The exhibition was launched yesterday in the presence

of commanding generals and mayors from the baptism.

Picasso! Picasso! Picasso! One hundred times Van

Gogh, Cézanne, Munch, etc.

I have had a lot of noise and trouble. IÊve waived the

jury, although twice elected by the Board. Deusser, as a

chairman, had not been notified and protested on the

basis of the statutes at the last moment when there was

Donkey Ride

1914


Private collection

190

191

nothing more we could do than to go on strike. Then the

show would not have happened. The whole thing will

probably have consequences. I do not feel like writing

about it any more.

The exhibition is quite good. Nolde, Pechstein,

Heckel, Kirchner, etc. were very satisfied. You could

not ask for more. Four of your works are on display:

Yellow Horses, a Tiger, Deer (watercolour), and Cows

(watercolour). The last one especially gives me great

pleasure. KandinskyÊs two works are also very good.

In the Bazaar

1914

Watercolour and pencil on paper, 28.9 x 22.8 cm

Private collection

192

Nolde is good and so is Heckel. From the French, the

works of Matisse and from Braune and Derain. Three

hundred works are set aside, including all Campendonks

that I would have presented, but that I was not too keen

on starting another row over it, especially since there

are original Picassos and Braques hanging right next to

them, which embarrasses me for Campendonk, after the

deer from last week [...]. The difference is that this time,

I will not take any risks. You will probably soon come

around and look at it personally. It is quite amazing.

Inside the Mosque

1914

Watercolour on paper mounted on cardboard, 26.5 x 21 cm

Forberg Collection, Albertina, Vienna

194

As soon as the scarlet fever is gone and the Americans

have gone home.

Happy Pentecost, August

By the way: Please send over a few works (woodcut

or watercolour) to the Folkwang Museum in honour of

Osthaus, 10 th

Anniversary of the Museum. Submission

until the 15 th

of June. Maybe you could inform some

other „Blue Riders„.

Kairouan III

1914

Watercolour, 22.5 x 29 cm


196

197

Bonn, postmarked 5 June 1912

Dear Franz!

So, once again IÊve had it up to here! Soon I will no

longer be in a position to differenciate. My goodness,

who incited you to suddenly raise hell? Erbslõh was here.

He the God-gifted artist to whom apparently not enough

opportunity was offered, seems to have made a „fool‰ of

himself! I think we have sufficient work from him. I added

him because he was the only one amongst you who saw

the exhibition. The Werefkin? – Well, the picture we have

is already too much. Kanoldt? You know him! He is not

Landscape in Hammamet

1914



198

199

indispensable. Mogilewsky? Two out of three pictures are

too much and namely the larger ones. Jawlensky, with his

eternal fried eggs, resembles the painter Jungblut insofar

as his moonshine goes. He has four pictures. Münter,

thank God, is missing and will probably, as a

consequence, have been gambling quite a lot. From you,

I have five works. (I overlooked one the other day: the

two cats). Kandinsky two (Boat Ride and Improvisation).

What you stress in the article is nonsense. What

does it mean that the exhibitions are dependent on the

artists? Who is an artist? Had we allowed the different

associations to exhibit each with their own jury, we would

Sea Landscape

1914

Watercolour over pencil, 23 x 22.2 cm

Pinakothek der Moderne, Bayerische

Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich

200

have had all the followers always present, meaning

there would have been ... huge groups of people who

are not artists. Determining the artist is really up to the

management of such an exhibition. Such a show with such

a selection (which is very wide-ranging, instructive, and

interesting) has universally never existed before in terms of

an official art exhibition. Of course, it has its importance,

if each artist (there are not so many after all) is present

as much as possible. But on the other hand, it is also

completely sufficient for the connoisseur, when for example

a Cézanne hangs in the Munich Secession. Here we only

have two Nolde. I had the impression that Nolde could be

Landscape with Cows and Camels

1914


Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich

202

203

very satisfied with the effect of this art column and in fact,

he was. It depends on the importance of each of the selfcontained

works of art. I would, for my part, be satisfied to

get embarrassed with one picture only. Reasonable people

should not stand on the road and stare into the air. There

will be a crowd, but afterwards the crowd will go home

and wonder what was actually in the air. The association

and publicity mania is terrible. I loathe this craze and the

eternal demonstrations. And if you release this article as

well as the term „deferred pictures of the Sonderbund‰,

I will be a bit ashamed to be your friend. I do not give

a damn about the consequences and inconveniences,

View of an Alley

1914




204

205

even recklessnesses against Hagelstange and Reiche.

I am free, responsible for nobody but myself, but I only

wish to make you aware of the situation again.

Reiche has always helped all of you, as no one in

Germany has before. Jawlensky has sold nineteen

pictures, Bechtejeff a whole series, Werefkin, Münter,

and you. You attack him, but he works for you. Enough

promises are given. Oh, it seems too stupid to me. Bode

will write an article this week against all art historians who

interfere in the new art. Deusser and Clarenbach complain

about the presence of art historians in the Sonderbund

(if only these „artists‰ on which the exhibitions depend

Man and Donkey

1914



206

207

would leave the Sonderbund!), the Cologne newspaper

fulminates against the art historians. Who has worked in

Munich against Tschudi? The artists. Meier-Graefe reveals

his point of view in the Sunday edition of the Frankfurter

Zeitung against Modern Art („products of combustion‰

as he calls them). And please, please take a look the

exhibitions which depend on the artists (because,

unfortunately, the term artist is very flexible). You disgrace

the people who really stand up for new art. One will say,

„You see, you stupid museum people, it is well done for

you, keep your hands off the guys who can not even

behave.‰ Oh, all these ongoing disputes amongst artists ...

Market in Tunis I

1914

Watercolour over pencil, 29 x 22.5 cm


208

209

It is just too stupid. They are cads fighting when soonest

ended is soonest mended. There is no seriousness behind

the eternal hue and cry. And you cannot blame the

people. Do you think in all seriousness that Hagelstange

and Reiche would be pleased to be officially linked

with Walden? Do you think Tschudi would have liked it,

although these are not Tschudis. And you would have

(pardon the expression) shut up. The most ridiculous thing

is that none of you saw the exhibition and you argue in

the dunghill of Sindelsdorf against a thing that you do

not even know. I have shown Reiche and Hagelstange

the article. Both of them, as well as certainly Cohen and

Market in Tunis

1914


Private collection

210

myself, believe that it is not as harmless as all that. And

then this „epoch-making‰ exhibition, which you organise.

Well, cheers!

MaryÊs letter has just arrived. You can imagine that

Lisbeth is absolutely done in through work and hay fever.

On the other hand, a postponement is hardly possible.

Bubi is also weak and will be back on his feet in ten

days. As a longer get together is really too exhausting

for Lisbeth, I would like to ask you to be satisfied with no

more than fourteen days [...] Greetings, and Franz

should be a bit quieter. I will tell him when I see him.

Your August

Still Life with Begonias, Apples, and Pear

1914



212

213

Bonn, 1 July 1912

Dear Franz!

ItÊs too hot and oppressive to write much. Thank you for

your card and for reserving the debate. Buy The Northern

Lights by Däubler, Georg Müller Verlag, Munich, Josefplatz

(11.50 for artists, otherwise 22). Our great poet and friend

and future colleague. A wonderful person. Do you know

Huber, from Switzerland? Then a buyer of my Strollers

in the Sonderbund, Kluxen. HeÊs a lonely, wealthy young

Tightrope Walker

1914



214

215

man who has built a villa in Wyk and is now looking for

pictures for his solitude. He was keen on your Deer that

hangs here, which I advised him towards rather than the

little deer in Cologne. I told him, you would not expect him

to pay much more than for the small one. He will probably

buy The Barmer Cow from Kandinsky or his Don Quixote,

the reproduction of which I showed him. He has also

made an offer for a brand new Picasso in Cologne. It is

going to be a Blue Rider villa. He is very intelligent. I regret

A Look Into Summer House

1914

Oil n canvas on cardboard, 35.3 x 25 cm


216

217

the deer and hope for an occasional replacement. I

recently spoke with Goldschmidt in Frankfurt, a real

bastard. He seems to make a point that only pictures

that will sell will be exhibited.

In Cologne, the sales were over 90,000 M. Only

Modern Art! The peacemakers had no success. Nolde

and Schmidt-Rottluff must not even think about having

to join Deusser for political reasons. Düsseldorf is really

on its last legs.

Sincerely, August

Sunset After the Rain (People in a Park)

1914

Oil on wood, 45.5 x 63.5 cm

Private collection

218

219

Bonn, 23 July 1912

Dear Franz!

I have not written in recent times, the heat is mainly to

blame, as well as many events, and my laziness. In the

Sonderbund, such filthy things have occurred, which in

their complexity can not be described properly without

always missing something important. The fact is that Mr

Deusser was opposed to an expansion of the jury, but

the board had elected me twice. Reiche wanted to

resign from his office (three days before the opening),

the Board expressed the greatest confidence in Reiche

Promenade (with half-length of Girl in White)

1914


Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart

220

221

and asked him to please continue the work. The jury

met, although we all hated each other, and could have

killed each other. I had only renounced because I could

not put up with DeusserÊs insolent tone. The French works

were hung up by Hagelstange and Reiche, the Germans

by Clarenbach and Deusser (which obtained, by the

way, three votes from the five judges!). Out of politeness,

the people could not even negotiate because of

DeusserÊs behaviour. You can see who bore the blame

for the selection of your work. I believed that one should

not inform the public about the dispute (who incidentally

had not noticed anything in this commotion). Then I

Gorges

1914

Watercolour over pencil, 20.7 x 26.6 cm

Private collection

222

223

applied for Clarenbachstift and Deusser to be kicked

out, that has not received any attention either. The

Executive Board of the Sonderbund is not very

energetic. The people who have worked are Reiche,

Hagelstange, Flechtheim, Hertz, myself, etc. Finally

came the session with the applications from Deusser.

More of the same: indiscretion, abuse, etc. Reiche and

Hagelstange sat outside. The ideologists (Hagelstange

had just before foolishly requested that Osthaus be

deposed as the chairman because he did not attend any

of the meetings and only contributed two small pictures)

Rocky Landscape

1914


Private collection

224

225

Niemeyer, Ehmcke etc., none of whom can make phone

calls, were talked into it by Deusser and Clarenbach

who both felt weakened by the critics. „Conflict

avoidance‰ was taken to the extreme; the meanest things

were put on the record on handmade paper. And now,

the „great man‰ applies for an expansion of the jury

(which was „impossible‰ a month earlier for statutory

reasons!) to include Nolde, Schmidt-Rottluff, Marc,

Deusser, Clarenbachstift, Niemeyer, and Osthaus!

Now comes the best part! Along with the new board

(Schmidt-Rottluff and Niemeyer had hastened to D-train

first) we met the workers, including Deusser, etc. Up to

Vineyard on Lake Morat

1914

Watercolour and pencil, 23.3 x 30.3 cm

Staatsgalerie Suttgart, Stuttgart

226

227

ten men are down in the basement of the Dom Hotel

and up to five men have been forced above – initially

five were sent to apologise for their insults with the

deepest regret, then Mr Schmidt-Rottluff was asked to

come down from above, and Mr Deusser was forced to

take back all of his accusations against Hagelstange

and Reiche (who printed on handmade paper!). And he

did, every single one of them! Ha! And we are now

sitting here and waiting for the second protocol. And I

told Niemeyer, if I tell you what happened here, there is

no way that you would accept the jury. The Soderbund

Our Garden on the Lake

1914

Watercolour and pencil, 23.5 x 30.5 cm

Private collection

228

229

can only work in Cologne with Hagelstange. Düsseldorf

is impossible. Barmen is excluded. Essen, Elberfeld, and

Mönchen-Gladbach are excluded as well. What the hell

do we care about Deusser and comrades! We have

to be content with Reiche, even though he is a strange

Cantonist. Niemeyer is an ideologist who has made the

whole mess because he wants to have Deusser hold up

in all circumstances, as highly esteemed as Clarenbach,

as he announced in his book. He is practically useless!

Incidentally, Osthaus has already stated that he could

have been caught unawares by Deusser. Deusser, etc.

St Germain in Tunis

1914



230

have actually lost ground here, why do you have to fight

with Niemeyer from Hamburg? As well as with Osthaus

from Hagen etc., against the city of Cologne, and with

the workers who have worked for you? Deusser was

your last resort! At the exhibition, the new direction was

so successful financially (as opposed to the people of

Düsseldorf) that almost 70,000 M profit was made from

the sales. I will never go along with Deusser again.

Incidentally, I told Dr Grisebach that you would surely

exhibit with him in the winter. You donÊt mind do you?

You will enjoy the Kunstverein. I have sold eight things

Terrace of the Villa in St Germain

1914

Watercolour over pencil, 28 x 22 cm


232

233

there in eight days, so it is clear that this is an established,

enthusiastic modern art gallery! Munch made the

strongest impression on me in the Soderbund, you might

be surprised at that! I heard Kandinsky did not like him. I

think that his work is fabulous, even after looking at it over

40 times. Heckel is also timeless. And Matisse! On 5 th

August, I will go into uniform for eight weeks. On 21 st

September, I will be back in Bonn. We will see you here.

I have to close now. Talk is golden, but writing

makes me tired, love and best wishes to Mary.

Your dear August

Merchant with Jugs

1914

Watercolour on paper on cardboard, 26.5 x 20.6 cm


234

Bonn, 19 May 1913

Dear Franzl!

Were you not surprised at how I suddenly came to be

in Berlin? I needed a change of scenery. The Matisse

Exhibition, the Secession, the Herbstsalon-Rooms, my

new paintings at Koehler that were recently purchased.

In Hamburg I gained some small African sculptures. We

only climbed into bed at 7 a.m.! My impressions for

Delaunay and Marc are: fighting cows (I love the fact

that here you can hear the horns sounding in

Turkish Café I

1914

Oil on wood, 35.5 x 25 cm


236

237

contrast to the great white bull and the monkeys which

seem to be acting less harshly). Therefore, IÊd say that

the meaning of the cows is quite therapeutic!

Your new images: Monkey and Deer in the Cloister

Garden seem very earnest and are directly poetic. They

are quite different than the cows in nature; I like them

very much. My own pictures made a different

impression on me than I was expecting. What I had in

my memory was bad, was actually a lot better than

that which I remembered to be good. In the Secession,

Donkey in a Palm Grove

1914


Private collection

238

239

Matisse made the strongest impression. Heckel and

Kirchner resembled smarter painted sackcloth. I was

told by Kaesbach, who is a strong believer in what

Cassirer says, that Cassirer put HeckelÊs stronger work

with the soothing words: „WeÊll hide those until the

autumn, those are the stronger works.‰ HeckelÊs

paintings are competely diminished when they are

placed next to those by Matisse. I cannot help myself.

The work is not remotely similar to what Cologne was to

Heckel. Pechstein has become socially moderate, a bit

Arab Café

1914

Oil on wood, 27 x 21.8 cm

Kamm Collection, Kunsthaus Zug, Zug

240

like an old tweed suit. The only work that looks good

amidst this artistic company is Schmidt-Rottluff with a still

life. Pascin, Purrmann, an old Cézanne. Now, finally,

it is over! Matisse next to Gurlitt looks delicate and

appealing, improvised in the best and worst sense of the

word. Scheffler writes in the Vossische newspaper:

„Matisse knows how to use surfaces,‰ it is fabulous!

Do you know the Czech art magazine? It is absolutely

splendid, I ordered it via Walden. The people, especially

a sculptor named Gutfreund, must all do the same. I

talked to Walden about that, at about five to seven.

Two Girls in the Forest

1914


Private collection

242

243

I talked to Lübbecke, who was quite stupid again, about

the Herbstsalon in Frankfurt. He thinks Swarzenski will

do something like that. Gutbier (Arnold) was in Dresden.

You could let him travel! Berlin, Dresden, Munich

(Thannhauser? Give it a go), Frankfurt (why not write to

Swarzenski, you know him right?), and Hamburg (via

Walden). Fifty percent of the entrance fee anywhere for

the exhibition, respectively covering the expenses. Write

soon, and be assured of a warm embrace.

Your August

With the Parrots

1914

Watercolour and Indian ink on paper, 26.8 x 32.3 cm



244

245

Lisbeth to Mary Macke Marc, 11 November 1913

Dear Franz and Mary!

[...] My painterÊs opinion is that Kandinsky has gently

passed us by, because DelaunayÊs work was hung next

to his, and therefore showed how vivid colour can be,

in comparison to an incredibly complicated, but dull,

composition of coloured dots. It is enough to make one

want to cry from disillusion and shattered hopes. A table

top has more mystery than all of his paintings combined!

They no longer speak to me as they once did.

Love, August and Lisbeth!

The Painter’s Wife Reading

1914


Private collection

246

247

Index

A / B

Arab Café 241

At the Pier 175

Bright House II 177

C

Carnations in Green Vase 13

Children and Goat 91, 137

Children at the Grocery Shop I 135

Children in a Park 81

Children in the Harbour I 167

The Church of St Mary

in Bonn Covered with Snow 69

The Church of St Mary with Houses

and a Chimney (View from the Studio) 71

Coloured Composition (Lake Thun) 115

248

Coloured Composition (Tribute to Bach) 103

Coloured Forms I 117

Coloured Forms II 119

Coloured Forms III 121

Confluence Point 79

Couple at the Garden Table 171

Couple in a Park 173

Couple in the Forest 95

Couple Walking on a Path 125

D / E

Donkey in a Palm Grove 239

Donkey Ride 191

Elisabeth at her Desk 23

Elisabeth at her Desk (Elisabeth Reading) 57

Elisabeth Gerhardt Sewing 25

Evening 97

249

F

Fashion Shop 165

Fashion Shop in the Arcade 163

Fashion Window 123

Fisherman on the Rhine 11

Flamingos at the Zoo 161

Forest Stream 35

Four Girls on a Balcony 131

Four Young Girls 99

G

Garden at Lake Thun 181

Garden Gate 179

Garden Restaurant 93

Girl with a Fishbowl 187

Gorges 223

Greetings from the Balcony 129

H / I

Hat Shop on the Promenade 183

250

Hats Shop 133

The Hospital in Tegernsee 39

House in a Garden 189

In Front of the Hat Shop

(Woman in a Red Jacket and her Child) 155

In the Bazaar 193

Indian 61

Indian Riding a Horse 63

Inside the Mosque 195

K / L

Kairouan III 197

Landscape in Hammamet 199

Landscape with Cows and Camels 203

Large Bright Window 101

A Look Into Summer House 217

M

The MackeÊs Garden in Bonn 65

Man and Donkey 207

251

Market in Tunis 211

Market in Tunis I 209

Merchant with Jugs 235

Mother and Child 67

O / P

The Old Violonist 9

Our Garden on the Lake 229

Our Living Room at Tegernsee 33

Our Street in Grey 75

The PainterÊs Wife Reading 247

The PainterÊs Wife (Study for a Portrait) 87

Park by the Water 143

Path 89

People at the Blue Lake 127

Pierrot 145

Portrait of Franz Marc 41

Portrait of the PainterÊs Wife with a Hat 31

Portrait with Apples

(Portrait of the PainterÊs Wife) 29

252

Promenade 147

Promenade (with half-length of Girl in White) 221

R

The Rhine in Hersel 21

Rocky Landscape 225

Rose Azalea I 53

Rose Azalea II 55

Russian Ballet I 105

S

Sea Landscape 201

Self-Portrait with a Hat 4, 27

Small Zoological Garden in Brown and Yellow 107

St Germain in Tunis 231

Still Life with a Milk Jug and Flowers 43

Still Life with Apple Bowl and Japanese Plate 83

Still Life with Begonias, Apples, and Pear 213

Still Life with Hyacinths and Carpet 45

Still Life with Palm Leaves 47

253

Still Life with Stag Cushion and Flowers 73

Street and Church in Kandern 77

Stroller 17

Strollers at the Lake 151

Strollers (Grand Outdoor Promenade) 139

Study for a Portrait of Elisabeth Gerhardt 15

Sunny Path 149

Sunset After the Rain (People in a Park) 219

T / U

Terrace of the Villa in St Germain 233

Tightrope Walker 215

Tree in a Wheat Field 19

Turkish Café I 237

Two Girls in the Forest 243

Untitled 159

V

View of an Alley 205

View of Tegernsee 37

254

View of the Harbour with Children

Seated on a Low Wall (Duisburg) 169

Vineyard on Lake Morat 227

W

Walk Among Flowers 109

Walk in the Woods 59

Walkers by the Lake I 111

WalterÊs Toys 85

White Pot, Flowers, and Fruit 51

With the Parrots 245

Woman in a Green Jacket 141

Women Reading at the Table

(Elisabeth and Sofie Gerhardt) 49

Y / Z

Yellow Jacket 153

Yellow Sail 157

Young Girls Under the Trees 185

Zoological Garden I 113

255

August Macke

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