August Macke: Paradise! Paradise?

Poised between war and the longing for an unspoiled life, August Macke’s paintings tell of journeys to distant lands, the magic of everyday life, and the vision of an ideal world. Paradies! Paradies?, on show from October 30, 2020 to February 14, 2021, presents 80 works from every phase in the career of this Expressionist from—including 16 oil paintings and watercolours that were first exhibited at Museum Wiesbaden in 1920.

One of the most important German Expressionists of the early 20th century, August Macke (1887–1914) was killed in the First World War at the tender age of 27. After the war, his wife Elisabeth staged an Exhibition in Memory of August Macke with over 190 unsold works from his estate. It was shown at Museum Wiesbaden in the autumn of 1920. To mark the hundredth anniversary of that comprehensive retrospective, Museum Wiesbaden, in association with Kunstmuseum Bonn, is now staging a new exhibition of August Macke’s work, highlighting its artistic variety.

“Our exhibition showcases Der Blaue Reiter’s world-famous ‘painter of light,’” said Roman Zieglgänsberger, curator of the exhibition. “More than almost any other artist of his time, August Macke succeeded—as if in one last fleeting snapshot—in capturing with his luminous, optimistic paintings the vision of paradise on earth, before it was punctured by the outbreak of the First World War.”

The exhibition follows the development of the artist’s style: from the impulsive Impressionism inspired by Lovis Corinth, under whom he studied briefly in Berlin, to his encounters in Paris with Fauvism and Futurism (Henri Matisse, Robert Delaunay), and his membership of the artist group Der Blaue Reiter, founded in Munich in 1911 by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. The show retraces the journey that made Macke a decisive contributor to the artistic renewal of the early 20th century. 

Not only does the Wiesbaden exhibition shed light on every phase of August Macke’s artistic development through carefully selected examples of his work, it also represents every medium he worked in, from painting and drawing to printmaking and sculpture. In particular, it includes the atmospheric watercolours he painted on visits to Lake Thun in Switzerland and during his famous trip (in April 1914) with Paul Klee and Louis Moilliet to Tunis in North Africa.

“Staging—in the very same spot as the first—a new exhibition that both commemorates the memorial retrospective of 1920 and re-evaluates August Macke for the 21st century is a task as exciting as it is pleasurable. I am convinced that this exhibition comes at the right time. Many of Macke’s works exude joy, easefulness, and lightness of being: they really seem to want to reconcile us with life,” said Dr. Andreas Henning, director of Museum Wiesbaden. “The project has become a reality thanks to our partnership with Kunstmuseum Bonn and the loan of key works from its collection. In return, a number of major works by Alexej von Jawlensky from our own collection are underpinning a major Jawlensky exhibition in Bonn. We are also extremely grateful to the Kulturfonds RheinMain; particularly at this time, their support provides a crucial contribution to the maintenance of our cultural life.”

The publication August Macke. Paradies! Paradies? is appearing in conjunction with the exhibition (Michael Imhof Verlag, ISBN 978-3-7319-1008-4).

In association with Kunstmuseum Bonn
Supported by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain

Opening times:
Monday closed
Tuesday, Thursday 10am—8pm
Wednesday, Friday 10am—5pm
Saturday, Sunday, holidays 10am—6pm

Entry:
*Entry to special exhibitions includes admission to the permanent collections.
Free entry to Museum Wiesbaden’s permanent and special exhibitions for school or study groups with two accompanying adults.
Free entry for children and young people under the age of 18.

Übersetzt von: Lance Anderson