Macke was born at Meschede (Sauerland) on 3 January 1887 as the son of an engineer and building contractor. After attending the art academy in Düsseldorf for two years, he went on a longer journey to Italy, Holland, Belgium and London, which ended in Paris. In 1907 Macke attended the school of painting run by Lovis Corinth in Berlin. In 1908 Macke went on his second tour of Italy and Paris. After serving in the army, he married Elisabeth Gerhardt in 1909; together they had two sons. In 1910 he traveled to Munich, where he met Franz Marc. The Macke family spent the years 1910/11 at Lake Tegernsee. In 1911 he helped prepare the Sonderbund Exhibition in Cologne. In the same year, he got to know Kandinsky and Münter and participated in the first exhibition of "Der Blaue Reiter" at the Galerie Thannhauser in Munich. Macke and his family moved to Bonn. In 1912 the almanac of "Der Blaue Reiter" was published, featuring Macke's contribution on "Die Masken". He took part in the Sonderbund Exhibition. In 1913 Macke received Delaunay's visit in Bonn. He organized the exhibition of the Rhenish Expressionists at the Kunstsalon Friedrich Cohen. Together with Marc and Herwarth Walden, he then organized the "Erste Deutscher Herbstsalon" in Berlin. In January 1914 Paul and Lily Klee came to visit him; in April he went on a trip to Tunis, together with Klee and Louis Moilliet. As of August, Macke was a soldier on the western front. He died in action on 26 September 1914 in a battle at Perthes-Les-Hurlus in the Champagne.