Blue birds

This new mural in Bonn is a collaborative work by emerging artist Marie Hesse and street artist Aphenoah, created in tribute to August Macke.

Just before his death in World War I, Bonn-born artist August Macke painted "Mädchen mit den blauen Vögeln" (Girl with Blue Birds) in 1914. Now, more than a century later, art student Marie Hesse has reimagined the piece on Hochstadenring, not far from Macke’s former residence—today the Macke Museum.

Interestingly, the girl from the original painting is absent in Hesse’s version. Instead, she replaces the "blue birds" with grey herons, set in a riverside floodplain that may resemble the Siegaue, with the Siebengebirge mountains forming the backdrop.