August Macke

Description

August Macke (1887-1914) was a master of German Expressionism, a movement which sprang up in the early 1900s with the intent to forego physical reality in search of its emotional counterpart, with a particular emphasis on expressing dark moods of tragedy and angst. Macke was a master of color and form, producing eye-catching canvases that evoke a strong sympathetic reaction in the viewer. He was equally at home portraying the sun drenched streets of Tunisia, the cloudy sky around the Bonn cathedral, and the faceless multitude of a crowded railway station. In this compelling text, Walter Cohen examines the brief life of an artist whose seemingly limitless potential was tragically cut short by his untimely death.

Dr Walter Cohen was a respected art historian and curator in Dusseldorf, Germany. As a patron of the Avant-garde and private collector, he was able to create a large collection of Expressionist art in the 1920s. Soon after, the National Socialists declared his collection "degenerate," like so many other pieces and collections of the time. In 1942, Cohen was hunted and murdered in the Dachau concentration camps due to his Jewish ancestry.Despite being hidden throughout the course of World War II, Cohen's collection was nearly completely destroyed. His wife Margarete Umbach and her second husband did their best to reconstruct the collection after the war ended.Cohen published works on subjects including August Macke and Rheinland artistry