''Blue Horses'' or ''Die grossen blauen Pferde'' (''The Large Blue Horses'') is a 1911 painting by German painter and printmaker Franz Marc (1880–1916).

Background

In 1911 Marc was a founding member of

Der Blaue Reiter ''Der Blaue Reiter'' (The Blue Rider) is a designation by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc for their exhibition and publication activities, in which both artists acted as sole editors in the almanac of the same name, first published in mid-May ...

(The Blue Rider), and was the center of a circle of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

artists with August Macke,

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

and several others whose works were seminal to the development of

German Expressionism German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

Analysis

This work, which represents three vividly coloured blue horses looking down in front of a landscape of rolling red hills, is characterized by its bright

primary colors A set of primary colors or primary colours (see spelling differences) consists of colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used to create the perception of a br ...

and a portrayal that simplicity, and a profound sense of emotion. According to the 'Encyclopædia Britannica', "the powerfully simplified and rounded outlines of the horses are echoed in the rhythms of the landscape background, uniting both animals and setting into a vigorous and harmonious organic whole.". It is thought that the curved lines used to depict the subject are to emphasize "a sense of harmony, peace, and balance" in a spiritually-pure animal world and that by viewing human beings are allowed to join this harmony. Marc gave an emotional or psychological meaning or purpose to the colors he used in his work: blue was used for masculinity and spirituality, yellow represented feminine joy, and red encased the sound of violence and of base matter. Marc used blue throughout his career to represent spirituality and his use of vivid color is thought to have been an attempt to eschew the material world to evoke a spiritual or transcendental essence. This

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

on canvas measures 41.625 inches by 71.3125 inches (unframed) and is unsigned. This is one of Marc's earliest major works depicting animals and the more important of his series of portraits of horses in various colors. It is often thought that Marc thought animals to be more pure and more beautiful than man and represented a more

pantheistic Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ...

understanding of the divine or of spirituality. Swiss painter Jean Bloé Niestlé (1884–1942) urged Marc to "capture the essence of the animal." According to art historian Gabi La Cava, Marc depicts "the feeling that is evoked by the subject matter is most important"—more so that zoological accuracy.

Provenance

In 1942, ''Blue Horses'' was purchased by the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, to ...

in Minneapolis, Minnesota through The T. B. Walker Foundation and its Gilbert M. Walker Memorial Fund. This was the first major modernist work to enter the collection.Die Grossen Blauen Pferde (retrieved 18/06/2011)

In culture

The painting was the inspiration behind the title of a bestselling volume of poetry, ''Blue Horses'' (2014), by the American poet

Mary Oliver Mary Jane Oliver (September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019) was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her work is inspired by nature, rather than the human world, stemming from her lifelong passion for solitary ...

Other notable animal paintings by Franz Marc

* ''Gelbe Kuh'' ( Yellow Cow) (1911) * ''Blaues Pferd I''
Blue Horse I
(1911) * ''Die Kleinen Blauen Pferde'' (The Small Blue Horses) * ''Zwei Katzen, Blau und Gelb'' (Two Cats, Blue and Yellow) 1911 * ''Blaues Pferdchen'' ( Little Blue Horse) 1912 * '' Der Turm der Blauen Pferde'' (The Tower of Blue Horses) (1913), missing since 1945. * ''Die Kleinen Gelben Pferde'' (The Little Yellow Horses)

References

External links

Walker Art Center
{{Authority control 1911 paintings Paintings by Franz Marc Horses in art Paintings in Minnesota