August Macke's oeuvre is regarded as one of the most outstanding achievements of the early modern era in twentieth-century art. At the heart of this publication is the young Expressionist's sojourn at Rosengarten House on Lake Thun from October 1913 to June 1914. Here, Macke (1887-1914) developed a unique style of painting all his own, as demonstrated by the numerous sketches in various techniques as well as the studies and oil paintings in this volume. This is also the first book to shed light on Macke's affinity for Switzerland.

The book also contains brief excursions into the trip to Tunisia that Macke, Paul Klee, and Louis Moilliet planned in April 1914 at Lake Thun, from where they set out on their journey, as well as Macke's artistic influence on his fellow artist and friend Louis Moilliet. It furthermore addresses the landscape surrounding Lake Thun as a modernist topos.