People at the Blue Lake (1913) is an oil painting by the German Expressionist August Macke (1887–1914), executed in the final year before the artist's death in the First World War. The work, measuring 60 × 48.5 cm, depicts figures in a lakeside landscape and is held in a public collection, reflecting Macke's distinctive integration of avant-garde color theories with a lyrical, optimistic vision of human interaction with nature.

Provenance: the 1913 creation and institutional collection

The painting was created in 1913, a period when Macke was at the height of his creative powers, synthesizing influences from the European avant-garde movements he had encountered ^[1]. The work is documented in the Wikidata catalogue as a painting by August Macke with inception date 1913, dimensions of 60 × 48.5 cm, and held in the collection identified as Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe ^[3]. The National Gallery of Art open data confirms the medium as oil on canvas and the date as 1913 ^[4].

Date	Event
1913	Painting executed by August Macke [3][4]
Collection	Held in Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe [3]

Artist: Macke and Der Blaue Reiter

August Robert Ludwig Macke (3 January 1887 – 26 September 1914) was a German Expressionist painter and one of the leading members of the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) ^[1]. Born in Meschede, Westphalia, and raised in Cologne, Macke lived during a particularly active time for German art, witnessing the development of the main German Expressionist movements as well as the arrival of successive avant-garde movements forming in the rest of Europe ^[1]. As an artist of his time, Macke knew how to integrate into his painting the elements of the avant-garde which most interested him ^[1]. Like his friend Franz Marc and Otto Soltau, Macke was one of the young German artists who died in the First World War ^[1]. The Getty ULAN records him simply as a German painter, 1887–1914 ^[2].

Technique: oil on canvas in the Expressionist idiom

The painting is executed in oil on canvas, the medium confirmed by the National Gallery of Art catalogue data ^[4]. Macke's approach to color and form was shaped by his engagement with the successive avant-garde movements of his era, which he integrated into his own distinctive painterly language ^[1]. The work's dimensions of 60 × 48.5 cm place it among Macke's intimate-scale compositions, a format he favored for scenes of figures in landscape settings ^[3].

Iconography: figures and the blue lake

The title People at the Blue Lake indicates the painting's subject: human figures set within a lakeside environment. The blue lake serves as the central motif, anchoring the composition and establishing the coloristic key for the scene. Macke's treatment of the subject reflects his broader artistic interest in the harmonious relationship between humanity and the natural world, a theme he explored repeatedly in his mature works ^[1]. The painting's iconography aligns with the Expressionist concern for conveying emotional experience through color and form rather than literal representation ^[1].

Related works and artistic context

Macke's work of 1913 belongs to the period when he was a leading member of Der Blaue Reiter, the Munich-based group that also included Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc ^[1]. The group emphasized emotional expression and abstraction, and Macke's integration of avant-garde elements into his painting made him a distinctive figure within this circle ^[1]. His death in 1914 at the age of 27 cut short a career that had already established him as a significant voice in German Expressionism ^[1].

Frequently asked questions

When was People at the Blue Lake painted?

The painting was created in 1913, as documented in the Wikidata catalogue and confirmed by the National Gallery of Art open data ^[3][4].

What are the dimensions and medium of the painting?

The work is an oil on canvas measuring 60 × 48.5 cm, according to the verified catalogue and the National Gallery of Art data ^[3][4].

Who was August Macke and what group was he associated with?

August Macke (1887–1914) was a German Expressionist painter and one of the leading members of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) group ^[1]. He died in the First World War alongside fellow artists Franz Marc and Otto Soltau ^[1].