Two Precious Books

Both books are on August Macke, on the right a biography published in Germany in 1953, and on the left "Tunisian Watercolors and Drawings" from Abrams in 1959. I've had them since the early 196os.

Macke is one of my half-dozen or so favorite artists. He died at the age of 27 in September 1914 in France, in World War I. He was a member of the German Blauer Reiter (Blue Rider), a leading group of expressionist artists.

In April 1914 he spent two weeks in Tunisia with Paul Klee and Louis Moilliet (a French artists). Macke's watercolors from that trip are exquisite; the best are illustrated beautifully in the second book, in paper sleeves. They can be removed and put for display (as I've done with one). Six months after that trip Macke was dead--an unspeakable tragedy in the development of German art.

Edit (next day): I've been preparing bird images for an important presentation to my local bird club in June, and I came across an especially good shot of a red-shouldered hawk from 2008 in Florida which I hadn't previously appreciated--and I couldn't resist backblipping it--I see it's already gotten two comments in the few minutes since I put it up :)