Three Nudes 1913

August Macke painted these Three Nudes, at an unknown date, using oil on canvas. There’s something so direct about this work, like Macke just went right at it. See how the brushstrokes follow the forms? It's like he's feeling his way around the figures. The paint is thin in places, thick in others, and the colors are these earthy, fleshy tones mixed with deep blues and greens. Look at the way he's rendered the body of the nude on the left and the shadow that falls down the thigh, that raw pink that reminds me of uncooked meat, and how the whole is offset against that vibrant green on the rock. It reminds me a little of Paula Modersohn-Becker, that same commitment to line and form and that honesty about the body, so direct and fresh. I love it when art feels like a conversation across time, different artists responding to each other, pushing and pulling at ideas. Ultimately, it’s less about any singular idea or meaning, and more about the ongoing process.