Tree in the cornfield 1907

August Macke made this tree in the cornfield with luscious color and soft, feathery strokes. The yellow and orange of the corn pops against the green of the tree and the blue sky. Imagine Macke outside, squinting in the bright sunlight, trying to get this scene down just as he sees it. The tree looks like a broccoli floret in the middle of an ochre field. Look at the way he’s rendered the shadows, like dark smudges under the tree and figures. I wonder if the paint felt thick in his hand. Macke’s capturing a moment, a feeling. He died young during WWI and was part of the expressionist movement. And like other expressionists he must have asked himself "How do I paint what I see and feel?". He was in conversation with Van Gogh and Cezanne, and all the painters before them. They built on one another’s ideas and techniques, inspiring creativity across time.