Turkish Cafe (I) 1914

August Macke painted 'Turkish Cafe (I)' with oils, sometime before his death in 1914. You can see this wasn’t about getting it ‘right’ but more about seeing how it felt: the red column framing the scene, the simple blocks of color. I imagine Macke was thinking about light and color and maybe space too. He's simplifying everything. It makes me think about Matisse, but with this interesting German directness. Look at the almost clunky way the colors meet. It's not blended; it’s more like a mosaic. I like the colors, the red and orange awning is so lively. But the whole scene feels quiet, doesn't it? It is as if Macke is trying to capture a moment of stillness amidst the buzz of the cafe. Painters are always talking to each other, across time, inspiring and stealing, so we can see a continuity of searching and seeing. And really painting is about this: the ambiguity, the looking, and the open-endedness.