August Macke was considered one of the most significant artists of German Expressionism. The great colourist that he was, he created a colourful and buoyant world in his paintings and watercolours, which were increasingly influenced by Futurism and Cubism. Thanks to his close ties to Franz Marc, he was a member of the inner circle of the group 'Der Blaue Reiter'. For Macke, painting was a creative transformation of nature, which he remade afresh in the picture out of units of luminous colour. His paintings always remained linked to the objective world; his thematic spectrum encompassed portraits, still lifes, but also motifs of contemporary urban life such as people promenading at the zoo or window-shopping. In 1913, Macke moved to Lake Thun, Switzerland, for eight months. In April 1914, he, Paul Klee, and Louis Moilliet undertook their legendary trip to Tunis, from which he returned with a large number of watercolours. After the outbreak of World War I, he was drafted for military service and was killed on the French front only weeks later.
