“It is almost too beautiful here” ... on Lake Thun
25 May - 01 Sep 2013
“IT IS ALMOST TOO BEAUTIFUL HERE” ... ON LAKE THUN
August Macke and Switzerland
25 May – 1 September 2013
August Macke’s (1887–1914) oeuvre is one of the outstanding achievements of the early modern period in art of the 20th Century. The months in the idyllic and fascinating landscape on Lake Thun are assumed to be a high point in his artistic development. “It is almost too beautiful here,” he wrote in October 1913 from Lake Thun to his patron Bernhard Koehler in Berlin.
Focus of the exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Thun is the residence of the young German Expressionist in the Rosengarten House in Oberhofen from October 1913 to June 1914. Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, in which the artist was killed after a few weeks, Macke brought colour, form and expression values together in a synthesis that fascinates us even today and developed his own unique style of painting. The exhibition also highlights Macke’s special relationship with Switzerland in general. A visit in 1907 to the Kunstmuseum Basel gave Macke, in his search for his own artistic path, the decisive impulse that marked the beginning of experimenting with modern artistic means and thus signified a departure from an academic style of painting. A relationship with Switzerland also led to the friendship with fellow artist Louis Moilliet. At Lake Thun a close artistic exchange developed, which gave a new impetus to Moilliet’s work, as can be seen here as well.
A digression in the presentation is the trip to Tunis by August Macke, Paul Klee and Louis Moilliet in April 1914, which was jointly planned at Lake Thun and undertaken from there. The paintings of Paul Klee, Ferdinand Hodler, Cuno Amiet and others demonstrate how much the landscape at Lake Thun and the surrounding area fascinated other artists besides Macke time and again.
The exhibition is organised in cooperation with the August Macke Haus in Bonn.
August Macke and Switzerland
25 May – 1 September 2013
August Macke’s (1887–1914) oeuvre is one of the outstanding achievements of the early modern period in art of the 20th Century. The months in the idyllic and fascinating landscape on Lake Thun are assumed to be a high point in his artistic development. “It is almost too beautiful here,” he wrote in October 1913 from Lake Thun to his patron Bernhard Koehler in Berlin.
Focus of the exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Thun is the residence of the young German Expressionist in the Rosengarten House in Oberhofen from October 1913 to June 1914. Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, in which the artist was killed after a few weeks, Macke brought colour, form and expression values together in a synthesis that fascinates us even today and developed his own unique style of painting. The exhibition also highlights Macke’s special relationship with Switzerland in general. A visit in 1907 to the Kunstmuseum Basel gave Macke, in his search for his own artistic path, the decisive impulse that marked the beginning of experimenting with modern artistic means and thus signified a departure from an academic style of painting. A relationship with Switzerland also led to the friendship with fellow artist Louis Moilliet. At Lake Thun a close artistic exchange developed, which gave a new impetus to Moilliet’s work, as can be seen here as well.
A digression in the presentation is the trip to Tunis by August Macke, Paul Klee and Louis Moilliet in April 1914, which was jointly planned at Lake Thun and undertaken from there. The paintings of Paul Klee, Ferdinand Hodler, Cuno Amiet and others demonstrate how much the landscape at Lake Thun and the surrounding area fascinated other artists besides Macke time and again.
The exhibition is organised in cooperation with the August Macke Haus in Bonn.