Street with church in Kandern 1911

This painting of a street with a church in Kandern was made by August Macke, but the date is unknown, and he used paint. What grabs me here is the way the colour behaves. Macke hasn’t laboured over fine details. Instead, the architecture is built from slabs of colour – look at the purplish-blue shadow defining the steps in the lower left corner. This area vibrates with a sense of light falling on it, even though the tone is muted. The surface has this feeling of being scrubbed at, like he’s trying to get the paint to really sink into the canvas. The road's surface is built from flowing lines that guide your eye, like the buildings are leaning in to whisper secrets. It reminds me of some of Kirchner's street scenes, the way colour is used to express the feeling of a place as much as its appearance. Ultimately, I like how Macke embraces process over perfection, capturing a moment with a sense of playful experimentation.