Coloured Composition (Homage to Johann Sebastian Bach)

Several modern artists paid homage to Johann Sebastian Bach during the early 20th century, and one of the best paintings from this series came from August Macke.

This is an unusually abstract artwork from Macke which will remind many of the work of Robert Delaunay, both in the use of colour and form. Macke is most well known for his depictions of everyday life, with figures going about their daily business. Similar to Kirchner, in this regard. Coloured Composition (Homage to Johann Sebastian Bach) is therefore a major divertion from this, with the artist using a combination of curved and straight lines to produce all manner of abstract shapes. Darker lines help to produce form, more so on the left hand side of the composition. Is it a visual exploration of sound? Paul Klee famously produced a series of work which aimed at giving form and appearance to the sounds of music.

Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso put some of their own variants together in 1911-1912 which provided an Analytical Cubist approach to capturing the essence of the musician. They left letters of Bach's name within their paintings, whereas Macke's alternative take is brighter and less obviously related to him. Macke places tones of orange and yellow within the central parts of this painting, which contrast strongly against the darker tones that sit alongside them. There are not many similar artworks from his career, which makes it somewhat difficult to conclude too much about this particular piece. It is also not one of his most documented artworks, meaning less is known about it - thankfully the title of the piece provides us with enough information to expand upon.

It is likely that the artist would have produced a number of study drawings prior to commencing this painting - it's new direction would have challenged his thinking and also required alternative technical methods. Having worked in other styles for so long, he would not have been able to simply jump straight onto this canvas without first preparing the composition in his mind. The complexity too suggests that perhaps he experimented with elements of the scene separately on spare pieces of paper before then putting it all together later on.