Man with donkey 1914

August Macke made this watercolor, Man with Donkey, with watercolors on paper. Look at how Macke stacks up these juicy, translucent rectangles and squares of color to create a lively sense of rhythm. It’s all about the process, a game of visual call and response, where one color bounces off another. The material aspects here—the thin, washy paint, the way the white of the paper peeks through—give it a light, airy feel. Notice the dark tree trunk bisecting the composition. It’s so matter-of-factly placed, yet it creates this surprising tension, dividing and connecting the abstract shapes into a kind of story. Macke's approach reminds me a little of Matisse, that similar embrace of playful color and flattened perspective, but with a touch more grit. It's a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation.