Tribute to Macke
This artwork is a tribute to August Macke.
August Macke was an artist belonging to the German Expressionist movement Der Blaue Reiter. Born in Meschede, Westphalia, in 1887, he completed his studies in Bonn and Cologne, before enrolling at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf. At the same time, he attended the School of Applied Arts.
Traveling throughout Europe, he arrived in Italy, where he received his first commissions for stage sets and costumes. During his travels in 1906, he visited countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, and Paris, where he had the opportunity to admire the works of the Impressionists and Matisse.
The artist witnessed and participated in the development of the major artistic movements of the last century, such as German Expressionism and the subsequent avant-garde movements emerging throughout Europe.
He seized the opportunity to study the works of groups like the Fauves and the Nabis, to understand their modern use of color as a means of transfiguring reality. In 1910, he met Franz Marc and Kandinsky, with whom he shared the mystical and symbolic interests of Der Blaue Reiter.
The meeting with Robert Delaunay, which took place in Paris in 1912, was a crucial aspect of August Macke's artistic life, an almost revelatory event that introduced him to Cubism.
August Macke's career was abruptly interrupted by his premature death; he died at the front in World War I in 1914, leaving behind splendid and joyful watercolors, a sunny happiness, as travel notes, works now considered masterpieces.
Stones used: Red Jasper from Egypt, Lapislazzuli, White Marble from Carrara, Magnesite, Paesina.
Year of composition: 2023
Size: cm 18x24
Artist: Leonardo Scarpelli
An original and authentic hand-made artwork created whith the antique technique of Commesso Fiorentino which is unique for Florence.
Commesso Fiorentino was born with Medici family, one of the most important families in Florence, in the second half of 1500.
The research of the stones is made by the mosaicist that must be able to choose from a rich and wide range of shades and veins: for this reason the artists personally search and collect the stones retracing the paths of the Medici researchers.
The processing starts by drawing the subject on adhesive paper, that is then cut into small tamplates that will be attached to the variegated shades of the stones following the visual instinct, the innate gift of the artist and his perfect knowledge of the materials. The shape of the little piece will be cut by hand with a chestnut, cherry or hazelnut wood bow and an iron wire that flows with abrasive powder and water. It creates a very precise and inclined cut to form the essential spaces to accommodate the glue, made by artisans with beeswax and pine tree resin. The different stones are previously glued onto a slate surface which acts as a support during the cutting and filing phase. The various pieces which form the composition are adjusted in shape with diamond files, glued together so that the joints are invisible, flattened and finally polished in order to create a perfect decorative harmony showing the colors of nature in all their radiance.