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拍品专文
In the autumn of 1913, August Macke relocated with his family to the picturesque surroundings of Lake Thun in Switzerland, staying in a small house owned by his mother-in-law. Over the course of the following eight months, immersed in the peaceful countryside and quiet rhythms of life in Switzerland, Macke’s art entered a period of intense evolution. Exploring scenes of leisure inspired by his new surroundings – from people strolling along the lakeshore on sun-dappled pathways, to figures sitting and conversing at cafés, and fashionable characters window shopping in the town of Hilterfingen – his compositions focused increasingly on the quiet tranquillity of life. ‘In these small pictures, which shine like jewels, one sees an intense concentration…,’ the artist’s wife, Elisabeth Macke, later explained. ‘They are truly poetic visions of everyday life painted with unabashed joy and with a deep, fervent commitment’ (quoted in H. Friedel and A. Hoberg, The Blue Rider in the Lenbachhaus, Munich, Munich, 2000, cat. 103, n. p.). Dating from this extraordinary period of productivity, Paar im Nachen exhibits all the cohesion and subtle harmony of colour, form and tone that distinguishes Macke’s mature oeuvre.
Filled with vibrant passages of gouache, pastel and India ink, the composition centres on a couple in a small rowing boat as they traverse the lake, the surrounding landscape described in undulating, rhythmic curves. Two trees tower on either side of the bank, framing the pair and leading the eye towards the rounded arches of a bridge in the distance. In many ways, the motif echoes the serene boating scenes that proved popular among Impressionist painters from the 1870s onwards, highlighting Macke’s ongoing interest in French painting through this period of his career. The artist had first discovered the paintings of Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet as black-and-white reproductions in Julius Meier-Graefe’s seminal book on Impressionist painting, which he had purchased on a trip to Basel shortly after its publication. As Elisabeth Macke recalled, the artist ‘devoured it; it contained what he had always been looking for, ideas that preoccupied him deeply and repeatedly…’ (quoted in August Macke : Gemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, exh. cat., Städtisches Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, 1987, p. 24). Several trips to Paris over the following years allowed Macke to discover the Impressionists’ work first-hand, marvelling at their paintings executed en plein air, and their focus on the ephemeral atmosphere of the landscape.
However, by 1913 Macke had stepped far beyond the Impressionist example in his work, assimilating a vast array of styles and influences from the contemporary avant-garde alongside his favourite motifs, from Fauvism to Cubism, Futurism to Orphism. He avidly followed the latest developments and trends sweeping through the European art scene, cultivating friendships with fellow artists and collectors, and visiting cutting-edge exhibitions in both France and Germany, each encounter leaving a subtle impression on his style. In Paar im Nachen, for example, the compositional structure of the scene finds parallels in Georges Braque’s 1908 views of L’Estaque, particularly its recession of space and the framing device of the massive trees on either side of the boat. At the same time, the play of light and sense of movement within the scene suggests the influence of Robert Delaunay, whose work Macke had first seen at the inaugural Blaue Reiter exhibition. During a trip to Paris the following year with Franz Marc, Macke visited Delaunay’s studio, where he had the privilege of seeing the artist’s iconic Fenêtre paintings under construction – ‘When I see the houses and the Eiffel Tower through these sunlit window panes,’ he later wrote, ‘… my hear opens up’ (quoted in ibid., p. 85).
In this way, Paar im Nachen is a powerful illustration of the diverse influences that shaped and underpinned Macke’s mature creative vision, each element carefully woven together and transformed through his own unique painterly language. However, less than a year after Paar im Nachen was created, Macke was killed in action on the front lines of the First World War, his life tragically cut short at the age of just twenty-seven. In his post-humous homage to his fallen comrade, Franz Marc wrote ‘We painters know that without [Macke’s] harmonies, whole octaves of colour will disappear from German art, and the sounds of the colours remaining will become duller and sharper. He gave a brighter and purer sound to colour than any of us; he gave it the clarity and brightness of his whole being’ (quoted in A. Meseure, August Macke, Cologne, 2000, p. 92).
Filled with vibrant passages of gouache, pastel and India ink, the composition centres on a couple in a small rowing boat as they traverse the lake, the surrounding landscape described in undulating, rhythmic curves. Two trees tower on either side of the bank, framing the pair and leading the eye towards the rounded arches of a bridge in the distance. In many ways, the motif echoes the serene boating scenes that proved popular among Impressionist painters from the 1870s onwards, highlighting Macke’s ongoing interest in French painting through this period of his career. The artist had first discovered the paintings of Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet as black-and-white reproductions in Julius Meier-Graefe’s seminal book on Impressionist painting, which he had purchased on a trip to Basel shortly after its publication. As Elisabeth Macke recalled, the artist ‘devoured it; it contained what he had always been looking for, ideas that preoccupied him deeply and repeatedly…’ (quoted in August Macke : Gemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, exh. cat., Städtisches Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, 1987, p. 24). Several trips to Paris over the following years allowed Macke to discover the Impressionists’ work first-hand, marvelling at their paintings executed en plein air, and their focus on the ephemeral atmosphere of the landscape.
However, by 1913 Macke had stepped far beyond the Impressionist example in his work, assimilating a vast array of styles and influences from the contemporary avant-garde alongside his favourite motifs, from Fauvism to Cubism, Futurism to Orphism. He avidly followed the latest developments and trends sweeping through the European art scene, cultivating friendships with fellow artists and collectors, and visiting cutting-edge exhibitions in both France and Germany, each encounter leaving a subtle impression on his style. In Paar im Nachen, for example, the compositional structure of the scene finds parallels in Georges Braque’s 1908 views of L’Estaque, particularly its recession of space and the framing device of the massive trees on either side of the boat. At the same time, the play of light and sense of movement within the scene suggests the influence of Robert Delaunay, whose work Macke had first seen at the inaugural Blaue Reiter exhibition. During a trip to Paris the following year with Franz Marc, Macke visited Delaunay’s studio, where he had the privilege of seeing the artist’s iconic Fenêtre paintings under construction – ‘When I see the houses and the Eiffel Tower through these sunlit window panes,’ he later wrote, ‘… my hear opens up’ (quoted in ibid., p. 85).
In this way, Paar im Nachen is a powerful illustration of the diverse influences that shaped and underpinned Macke’s mature creative vision, each element carefully woven together and transformed through his own unique painterly language. However, less than a year after Paar im Nachen was created, Macke was killed in action on the front lines of the First World War, his life tragically cut short at the age of just twenty-seven. In his post-humous homage to his fallen comrade, Franz Marc wrote ‘We painters know that without [Macke’s] harmonies, whole octaves of colour will disappear from German art, and the sounds of the colours remaining will become duller and sharper. He gave a brighter and purer sound to colour than any of us; he gave it the clarity and brightness of his whole being’ (quoted in A. Meseure, August Macke, Cologne, 2000, p. 92).