Franz Marc Expressionist

Blue Horse I Does this remind you of anything you see today?

Who was Franz Marc? Born 1880 in Munich, Germany Initially wanted to become a priest, philosopher Left for Paris to study art Influenced by Impressionist painters like Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, and van Gogh “Van Gogh is for me the most authentic, the greatest ….painter I know. To paint a bit of the most ordinary nature, putting all one's faith and longings into it - that is the supreme achievement... Now I paint... only the simplest things... Only in them are the symbolism, the pathos, and the mystery of nature to be found.”

Expressionism Used colors, shapes, and lines to express their feelings about their subjects – Instead of the idea that artist’s create work to imitate nature or to illustrate a literary theme or human emotion For the first time in history, art was created out of an inner necessity on the part of the artist to create it At the same time psychologists were beginning to suggest that lines, shapes, colors and spaces have specific emotional qualities - they could be joyful or sad, inspiring or depressing

Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider)The Blue Rider At the turn of the century, Franz Marc was part of group of Russian and German painters known as Der Blaue Reiter Fellow members Wassily Kandinsky and August Macke The artists shared a common desire to express spiritual truths through their art Following a doctrine of "inner necessity," The Blue Rider ceased representing the "real" world and, instead, painted visions derived from the "inner mind”

How to Spot a Franz Marc Painting paintings of animals as innocent beings in harmony with nature

How to Spot a Franz Marc Painting paintings of animals as innocent beings in harmony with nature use of unexpected, brilliant colors used as symbols – blue was masculine, spiritual and robust – yellow was feminine, gentle and serene – red was brutal and heavy

How to Spot a Franz Marc Painting paintings of animals as innocent beings in harmony with nature use of unexpected, brilliant colors used as symbols – blue was masculine, spiritual and robust – yellow was feminine, gentle and serene – red was brutal and heavy simplified, nearly cubist forms

Little Yellow Horses

elegant curves, like a sculpture almost inviting us to pet them yet still powerful and graceful close-up view the horses nearly fill the entire canvas Marc wanted to tell us more about horses than what they really looked like and wanted us to see them in a new light by portraying them in different colors than they are in nature.

The World Cow, 1913

Marc did not want merely to depict animals in a landscape, but to show the world as if seen through their eyes, to put “ourselves into the soul of the animal.” The World Cow, 1913 Landscape like a prism Red was a color of a force of nature Scene of creation and regeneration “Cubist” elements to connect the scene

A horse seems suspended between the material and spiritual worlds Blue was a heavenly color for the artists of Der Blaue Reiter As Marc wrote in a letter, “All other colors exist only to wake the longing for blue” Blue Horse with Rainbow (1913)

Franz Marc’s Love for Animals Franz Marc loved animals and depicted them in ways that gave them personality Can you name some animals with personality? If you could “talk to the animals”, what would they say?

Franz Marc’s Love for Animals Franz Marc loved animals and depicted them in ways that gave them personality Can you name some animals with personality? If you could “talk to the animals”, what would they say?

Die Wölfe (Balkankrieg) [The Wolves (Balkan War)], 1913 What do you see?

You can see a Marc in Kansas City at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Sleeping Animal, 1912 Red Deer, Early 20th century

How to Spot a Franz Marc Painting paintings of animals as innocent beings in harmony with nature use of unexpected, brilliant colors used as symbols – blue was masculine, spiritual and robust – yellow was feminine, gentle and serene – red was brutal and heavy simplified, nearly cubist forms