People by the Blue Lake
1913 · Oil on canvas · National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
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About this work
- Artist
- August Macke (1887–1914)
- Year
- 1913
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 60.3 × 48.3 cm
- Collection
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- Movement
- Expressionism
A woman in a white skirt and dark jacket, her head bent, walks beside a man in a dark suit and bowler hat through a grove of trees whose trunks and leaves burn orange and red, while beyond them lies a lake of pale and deep blue. The figures are simplified to silhouettes, and colour rather than drawing carries the scene. Macke painted it in 1913, the year he moved to Hilterfingen on Lake Thun, where walks by the water became his central theme; another version of the subject is in the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. The hot oranges set against cool blues show what he had learned from Robert Delaunay. Macke was killed in the first weeks of the war, in September 1914. The painting was given to the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 2020 by Arnold and Joan Saltzman.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A strolling couple among orange and red trees beside a deep blue lake, for a living room, bedroom or hallway at 24×36 in natural wood. A sky blue, cream or terracotta wall; it pairs with Promenade.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Expressionism painting
- Era
- 20th century (1913)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- living room, bedroom, hallway or entryway, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — natural wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is People by the Blue Lake in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was People by the Blue Lake painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.

















