Macke and Marc exhibition at the Munich Lenbachhaus

A major exhibition of the works of the Expressionist artists August Macke and Franz Marc is to open on Wednesday. It is the first to focus on their artistic friendship.

Around 200 paintings, works on paper and private documents provide insight into the career of the two artists who developed an affectionate collaboration from 1910 to 1914, when Macke was killed in the war. "They inspired and influenced each other very strongly," exhibition curator Annegret Hoberg said on Tuesday in Munich. They joined forces in the "Der Blaue Reiter" ("The Blue Rider") group of artists, which searched for new forms of artistic expression at the beginning of the 20th century.

The exhibition was designed in collaboration with the Kunstmuseum Bonn, where it was already presented in 2014. The Munich show displays 15 additional paintings, among which Franz Marc's "Fighting Forms," on loan from the modern art museum Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich and "Turkish Café" by August Macke from the Lenbachhaus gallery's own collection.

The exhibition "August Macke and Franz Marc. An artist friendship" can be seen until May 3. A similar project will highlight the friendship between painters Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky in October.

The Lenbachhaus is famous for holding the world's largest collection of art by the "Blue Rider" group, with works by Franz Marc, Wassily Kandinsky, August Macke, Paul Klee and Gabriele Münter.

at/ak (dpa)