Angler on the Rhine

The Macke family moved to Bonn in 1900, when August was 13, and from then on the Rhine was the river of his town. The picture shows fishing on its bank. He painted it in 1907, at 20, only months after leaving the Düsseldorf art academy early. He had got more out of the courses at the city's school of applied arts than out of the academy's own classes. It is oil on a piece of cardboard about 40 by 44 centimetres, a support he kept turning to for many of his oils. In the lower right corner he signed it Aug. Macke and cut the year down to 07.