Important German Expressionist

August Macke was an important German Expressionist artist known for his colorful and vivid paintings. He was born in Meschede, Germany, on January 3, 1887, and grew up in a wealthy family. Even as a child, he showed a passion for art and began his first attempts at drawing and painting at the age of 12.

After completing his schooling, Macke studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Düsseldorf from 1904 to 1906 and then at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf from 1907 to 1910. During this time, he also met other artists, including Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, with whom he later founded the artists' group "Der Blaue Reiter."

Macke traveled extensively, gathering inspiration from various countries, including Italy, Egypt, Tunisia, and France. His trip to Paris in 1907 had a great influence on his work and he began to study Post-Impressionism, especially the works of Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh. His trip to Tunis with Paul Klee and Louis Moilliet was also formative for his works. His cheerful paintings of parks, zoological gardens, and window displays glowed with bold yet harmonious colors. Their luminosity experienced another significant increase when he encountered the light of the African sun on his trip to Tunis in 1914.

From 1910 to 1912, Macke experimented with various styles, including Fauvism and Cubism, before finally finding his own style, characterized by vivid colors and clean lines. His works became increasingly abstract, reducing shapes and colors to their essential elements. The main subject of his paintings, however, was the human being, which Macke often brought to paper and canvas in a highly simplified and planar manner in the cheerful poetics of his colors, which were strongly oriented toward the works of his French painter colleagues.

During World War I, Macke was drafted into military service in 1914 and died in France that same year. His short life ended tragically, but his art had a great influence on Expressionism and modern art in general. His paintings, including "Dancing Figures" and "Promenade," are still highly regarded today and are exhibited in museums around the world.