August Macke 9781781607770, 178160777X

Table of contents :
Content: Biography
August Macke
Macke on ""The new Program"" [1914]
The Masks by August Macke
Macke's Letters to Franz Marc
Bonn, after 9 December 1910
Bonn, the 2nd day of Christmas, 1910
Bonn, postmarked 24 March 1911
Bonn, postmarked 15 June 1911
Bonn, 1 September 1911
Bonn, before Christmas 1911
Bonn, 8 January 1912
Bonn, 22 January 1912
Bonn, after 23 January 1912
Bonn, 5 Febuary 1912
Bonn, 28 April 1912
Bonn, 14 May 1912
Letter from Bonn [postmarked: 25 May 1912]
Bonn, postmarked 5 JUne 1912
Bonn, 1 July 1912
Bonn, 23 July 1912
Bonn, 19 May 1913.

Citation preview

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 Layout: Baseline Co. Ltd 61A-63A Vo Van Tan Street 4th Floor District 3, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam

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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 5th 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. 5

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:

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.

June 1914:

The Mackes returned to Bonn.

August 1914:

After the outbreak of World War II, Macke volunteered to serve in the German army. On the 8th August he was admitted as an infantryman in the Prussian army.

26th September 1914: August Macke died in action; a warrant officer of the 5th Company by Perthes-lès-Hurlus in Champagne. He left behind around 6,000 drawings in his sketchbooks and around 3,000 individual sheets. 7

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ugust 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 Oil on cardboard, 35.5 x 21.5 cm 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 25th 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 Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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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 26th 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 Oil on canvas, 49.7 x 34 cm 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 Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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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 Oil on canvas, 61.6 x 61.3 cm 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 Oil on canvas, 54.5 x 47.5 cm 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 Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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instances across several paintings of the 15th, 16th, and 17th 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 Oil on canvas, 39.5 x 43.5 cm 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 Oil on canvas, 70 x 120 cm 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 Oil on canvas, 65.5 x 51.4 cm 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 Oil on canvas, 44.5 x 52 cm 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 Oil on canvas, 48 x 46 cm 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 19th 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. PierreAuguste Renoir (1841-1919), Paul Signac (1863-1935),

Rose Azalea II 1910-1911 Oil on canvas, 70.5 x 52.3 cm 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 (15411614) 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 Oil on cardboard, 49.5 x 37.9 cm 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 Oil on canvas, 88 x 70 cm 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 Oil on wood, 44 x 60 cm Bernhard Koehler Collection, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

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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 Oil on canvas, 70 x 88 cm 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 Oil on canvas, 61.5 x 47.5 cm 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 Oil on canvas, 66 x 57.5 cm Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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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 Oil on canvas, 46 x 61 cm 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 Oil on canvas, 80 x 57.5 cm Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

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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 Oil on cardboard, 103 x 79.8 cm Augustinermuseum, Freiburg im Breisgau

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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 Oil on canvas, 47.5 x 64 cm Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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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 Oil on canvas, 110 x 70 cm Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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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 Oil on canvas, 56 x 55 cm Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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Bonn, the 2nd 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 Oil on canvas, 50 x 60 cm Städel Museum, Frankfurt

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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 Oil on cardboard, 105 x 81 cm Neue Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin

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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 Oil on canvas, 81 x 59 cm LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster

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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 Oil on canvas, 58 x 38 cm Private collection

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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 Oil on canvas, 81 x 105 cm Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern

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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 Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm Private collection

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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 Oil on canvas, 88 x 70 cm Private collection

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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 Oil on canvas, 105 x 81 cm Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf

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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 Oil on canvas, 106.8 x 82.8 cm Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hanover

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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 Oil on cardboard, 102 x 82 cm Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen am Rhein

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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 Oil on cardboard, 103 x 81 cm Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen

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„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 Oil on canvas, 47 x 68 cm Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden

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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 Oil on canvas, 63.5 x 48.5 cm Neue Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin

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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 Oil on canvas, 71.4 x 71.2 cm Private collection

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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 Oil on canvas, 58.5 x 98 cm Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

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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 Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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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 LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster

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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 Oil on cardboard, 36 x 31 cm Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen am Rhein

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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 Oil on cardboard, 28.5 x 23.8 cm Private collection

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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

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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 Oil on cardboard, 81.5 x 61.5 cm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg

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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 Oil on canvas, 60 x 48.5 cm Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe

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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

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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

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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 Oil on canvas, 54 x 44 cm Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

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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 Watercolour, 25 x 33 cm Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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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 Oil on cardboard, 24 x 34 cm Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

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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 Oil on cardboard, 81 x 103.5 cm LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster

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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 Oil on canvas, 44 x 43.5 cm Haubrich Collection, Museum Ludwig, Cologne

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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 Oil on canvas, 44.5 x 55 cm Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hanover

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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 Oil on canvas, 75 x 90 cm Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld

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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 Oil on cardboard, 51 x 57 cm Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

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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 Oil on cardboard, 50 x 30 cm LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster

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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

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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

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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 Oil on canvas, 54.7 x 44.5 cm Erik Blumenfeld Collection, Hamburg

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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

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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 LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster

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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 Ziegler Collection, Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr Mülheim an der Ruhr

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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 Watercolour, 45 x 57 cm Private collection

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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 Oil on canvas, 50.8 x 61 cm LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster

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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 Oil on canvas, 55 x 45.5 cm Private collection

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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 Oil on canvas, 48.5 x 42 cm Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern

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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 Oil on canvas, 54 x 46.5 cm Private collection

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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 Watercolour, 24.3 x 16.4 cm Museum Ludwig, Cologne

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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

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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 Watercolour, 26 x 20 cm Private collection

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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 Watercolour, 25 x 22 cm Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

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 Oil on canvas, 49 x 65 cm Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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 Museum Ludwig, Cologne

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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 Oil on canvas, 116.2 x 159 cm Pinakothek der Moderne, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich

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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 Oil on canvas, 80.5 x 100 cm Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal

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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 Watercolour, 22 x 28.5 cm Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg

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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 Watercolour, 24 x 28.5 cm Private collection

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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, 10th Anniversary of the Museum. Submission until the 15th of June. Maybe you could inform some other „Blue Riders„.

Kairouan III 1914 Watercolour, 22.5 x 29 cm LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster

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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 Watercolour, 21 x 26.5 cm LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster

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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 Oil on canvas, 47 x 54 cm Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich

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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 Watercolour, 29 x 22.5 cm Ziegler Collection, Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr Mülheim an der Ruhr

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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 Watercolour, 26.6 x 20.8 cm Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern

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 LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster

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 Oil on canvas, 57 x 51.5 cm 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 Oil on canvas, 48 x 56 cm Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

212

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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 Oil on canvas, 82 x 60 cm Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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 Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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 Oil on canvas, 48 x 60 cm Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart

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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 Watercolour, 22 x 26 cm 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

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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 Watercolour, 26 x 21 cm Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

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 LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster

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 5th August, I will go into uniform for eight weeks. On 21st 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 LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster

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 Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn

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 Oil on wood, 22 x 27 cm Private collection

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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 Oil on wood, 21 x 16 cm 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 Ziegler Collection, Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr Mülheim an der Ruhr

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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 Watercolour, 23.5 x 29.5 cm Private collection

246

247

Index A/B Arab Café

241

At the Pier

175

Bright House II

177

C Carnations in Green Vase Children and Goat Children at the Grocery Shop I Children in a Park Children in the Harbour I

13 91, 137 135 81 167

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) Coloured Composition (Lake Thun) 248

71 115

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 Couple Walking on a Path

95 125

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 Flamingos at the Zoo Forest Stream Four Girls on a Balcony Four Young Girls

11 161 35 131 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 250

183

Hats Shop The Hospital in Tegernsee House in a Garden

133 39 189

In Front of the Hat Shop (Woman in a Red Jacket and her Child) In the Bazaar

155 193

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 Man and Donkey

65 207 251

Market in Tunis

211

Market in Tunis I

209

Merchant with Jugs

235

Mother and Child

67

O/P The Old Violonist Our Garden on the Lake

9 229

Our Living Room at Tegernsee

33

Our Street in Grey

75

The PainterÊs Wife Reading The PainterÊs Wife (Study for a Portrait) Park by the Water Path

247 87 143 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) 252

29

Promenade

147

Promenade (with half-length of Girl in White)

221

R The Rhine in Hersel Rocky Landscape

21 225

Rose Azalea I

53

Rose Azalea II

55

Russian Ballet I

105

S Sea Landscape Self-Portrait with a Hat

201 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 View of Tegernsee 254

205 37

View of the Harbour with Children Seated on a Low Wall (Duisburg) Vineyard on Lake Morat

169 227

W Walk Among Flowers Walk in the Woods Walkers by the Lake I

109 59 111

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