7021 - Macke, August

Macke, August Seated Lady in the Park Colored chalks on sturdy sketchbook paper, folded down the center. Circa 1907. 11.8 x 18.2 cm (when opened). On the left, bearing the estate stamp (Lugt 1775 b), inscribed in blue ballpoint pen with “Paris 1907,” and above that, inscribed in brown pen with “Painted by August Macke/Paris, ca. 1909./Dr. Wilhelm Schmidtbonn B. Godesberg, Feb. 29, 1944.” Not listed in Heiderich. One of Macke’s most significant achievements was his exploration of color. In this small drawing, which resembles a folding card, one can trace this principle in a unique way, for to the left of the center fold, Macke applies several color samples to the paper before carefully using them to render the motif on the right. The subject is a defining and recurring one in Macke’s repertoire: An elegantly dressed lady, seen in three-quarter profile with her back turned, sits on a classic beer garden chair in the park. Both thematically and stylistically, the work fits into a series of sketch-like drawings that Macke produced during his stay in Paris in the summer of 1907. Particularly characteristic are the hatching and the broad lines used to render the surrounding space, as well as the outline-like depiction of the figure. With this type of figure shown from behind, “Macke found a means of transposing his world of feelings and thoughts into the depiction of external reality while preserving the emotional context. He favored these […] views of the human form throughout his entire creative career, and in the pictorial theme of the ‘shop window,’ this discovery ultimately becomes an essential part of the work’s message. This discovery—of fundamental importance for his entire oeuvre—is revealed in the transformations within his drawings.” (Ursula Heiderich, in: August Macke. Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, ed. by Ernst-Eberhard Güse, Munich 1986, p. 119). The work comes from the estate of the writer Wilhelm Schmidtbonn, who was a close friend of August Macke between 1906 and 1908. Provenance: Estate of August Macke Estate of Dr. Wilhelm Schmidtbonn, Bad Godesberg Private collection, Hamburg - Please ask for condition reports for the lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.