MACKE, AUGUST

born Jan. 3, 1887, Meschede, Ger. died Sept. 26, 1914, Perthes-les-Hurlus, Fr. German painter who was a leader of Der Blaue Reiter group, one of the sources of German Expressionism. Macke was influenced, particularly in his earlier work, by his teacher Lovis Corinth, as well as by the Cubists and the Impressionists. A lyrical temperament, however, is revealed in his works, which avoid the often violent style and subject matter of his fellow Expressionists. His art combines the tradition of French paintingits sense of the grace of movement and atmosphere in landscape paintingwith the cosmic sentiment of German art. In 1914 Macke traveled to Tunis with Paul Klee, and there he painted a series of works that place the subject upon a grid of various pure colours. These paintings demonstrate the effect that Orphic Cubism had upon Macke and number among his most widely admired works. Macke was killed in action in World War I.