August Macke and Hans Thuar – a wonderful friendship

Sommer Holidays 2025 from the 28th of July to the 13th of August.

Riehen, June 2025

Dear visitors, dear collectors, artists, art lovers, dear friends,

Summer of 2025 brings two very special friends to my gallery: August Macke and Hans Thuar.

Hans Thuar is nine and August Macke is ten when the boys from neighbouring houses in Cologne become friends. Not only are they enthusiastic about playing wild games in the new housing development on the edge of Cologne’s beach, they are equally fascinated by the Japanese woodcuts that Thuar’s father keeps in his art collection. ‘We sat there, us wild, wild boys, in front of these incredibly subtle rice sheets and were thrilled, shaken and more reverent than any church had ever seen us,’ recalls Thuar.

The close bond between Macke and Thuar is evident in their letters and encounters. ‘To create a strong, vivid sensation’ is the motto that drives them in their experiments, writes Macke. While August Macke (1887–1914) sought an expression for his ideas of earthly paradise, Hans Thuar’s (1887–1945) work reflects his existential relationship with nature. Some of their most expressive paintings were created virtually side by side during a brief period together in Bonn.

All works come directly from the artist’s families and have never before been available on the art market. I am particularly indebted to Mr and Mrs Axel and Dorothee Scheuren and the Macke family.

Marc Triebold

Texts assembled from various sources. Copyright images: Estate August Macke and Estate Hans Thuar.