7022 - Macke, August

Macke, August "Azale[e] I" Colored pencils and pencil on graph paper with a perforated margin. 1911 (12). 20.9 x 13.7 cm. On the reverse, bearing the estate stamp (Lugt 1775 b), inside which is numbered “23” in pencil, dated “1912,” titled “Azale I,” and labeled “Colored pencil drawing,” as well as bearing the red cross of Elisabeth Erdmann-Macke. Heiderich 1993, no. 691. A sketch, partly rendered with precise color, of a bouquet of azaleas wrapped in floral paper, spontaneously captured on graph-patterned notepad paper. The artist was particularly taken with the compactly arranged bouquet in the curved vase as well as the ornamental arrangement of the flowers. The bowl placed next to it, containing additional plants, and the surrounding space, however, are only vaguely suggested by a few pencil lines and colored hatching. Presumably in the same year, Macke incorporated this arrangement into his painting “Rosa Azalee II” (Vriesen 256). In the finished version, he turns the vase with the bouquet slightly more toward the viewer and positions it centrally on the picture plane. The now clearly defined white bowl with green plants is cropped at the left edge of the picture and continues to appear as a casual marginal note. Contrary to what our drawing initially suggests, Macke ultimately renders the surrounding space simply, using vibrant complementary color fields in dark blue and orange. Although the painting is dated 1910, Vriesen classifies it as belonging to the year 1911—in accordance with Heiderich’s dating of this drawing. The sketchbook from which this sheet of paper comes was used by Macke primarily in 1911, and sporadically in 1912 as well. Another watercolor, “Azalea II” (Heiderich 1997, no. 85—listed there as mixed media, colored chalks, and pencil; Vriesen 204), was likely also created in this context and must be assigned to this group of works. Provenance: Estate of August Macke Private collection, Hamburg Exhibition: Galerie Nierendorf, 24 Masters of the 20th Century, Berlin 1968 (cat. no. 77, with ill.) - Please request condition reports for the lots, as the condition is usually not specified in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.