Franz Moritz Wilhelm Marc (8 February 1880 – 4 March 1916) was a German painter and printmaker, one of the key figures 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 ...

. He 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), a journal whose name later became synonymous with the circle of artists collaborating in it. His mature works mostly depict animals, and are known for bright colouration. He was drafted to serve in the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

at the beginning of World War I, and died two years later at the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

. In the 1930s, the Nazis named him a

degenerate artist Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...

as part of their suppression of modern art. However, most of his work survived World War II, securing his legacy. His work is now exhibited in many eminent galleries and museums. When up for auction, his major paintings attract large sums, with a record of £42,654,500 for ''Die Füchse'' (''The Foxes'').

Early life

Franz Marc was born in 1880 in Munich, the then capital of the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

. His father, Wilhelm Marc, was a professional

landscape painter Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composi ...

; his mother, Sophie, was a homemaker and a devout, socially liberal

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

. At the age of 17 Marc wanted to study theology, as his older brother Paul had. Two years later, however, he enrolled in the arts program of

Munich University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

. He was first required to serve in the military for a year, after which, in 1900, he began studies instead at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...

, where his teachers included

Gabriel von Hackl Gabriel (von) Hackl (24 March 1843 – 5 June 1926) was a German historicism (art), historicist painter. Life and work He was born in Maribor, Lower Styria, Austrian Empire. A surgeon's son, he attended the gymnasium (school), gymnasium in his ...

and

Wilhelm von Diez Albrecht Christoph Wilhelm von Diez (17 January 1839, Bayreuth – 25 February 1907, Munich) was a German painter and illustrator of the Munich School. Life He attended a trade school in Munich, followed by the Polytechnic School (precursor of ...

. In 1903 and 1907, he spent time in France, particularly in Paris, visiting the museums in the city and copying many paintings, a traditional way for artists to study and develop technique. In Paris, Marc frequented artistic circles, meeting numerous artists and the actress

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including '' La Dame Aux Camel ...

. He discovered a strong affinity for the work of painter

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...

. After the 1903 trip, he ceased attending the Academy of Fine Arts. During his 20s, Marc was involved in a number of stormy relationships, including an affair lasting for many years with Annette Von Eckardt, a married antique dealer nine years his senior. He married twice, first to

Marie Schnür Marie Schnür, or Marie Marc-Schnür, (19 February 1869, Krien – 16 February 1934, Swinemünde) was a German painter, illustrator and silhouette maker. From 1907 to 1908, she was married to the painter Franz Marc. Biography She was one of ...

, then to Maria Franck; both were artists.

Career

Marc, Franz - Blue Horse I - Google Art Project

In 1906, Marc traveled with his elder brother Paul, a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

expert, to

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

, and various other Greek locations. A few years later, in 1910, Marc developed an important friendship with the artist August Macke. In 1910 Marc painted ''Nude with Cat'' and ''Grazing Horses'', and showed works in the second exhibition of the '' Neue Künstlervereinigung'' (New Artists' Association, of which Marc was briefly a member) at the

Thannhauser Galleries The Thannhauser Galleries were established by the Thannhauser family in early 20th century Europe. Their cutting-edge exhibitions helped forge the reputations of many of the most important Modernist artists. History Heinrich Thannhauser (1859–193 ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Der Blaue Reiter

In 1911, Marc founded the ''

'' journal, which became the center of an artist circle, along with 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 others who had decided to split off from the ''Neue Künstlervereinigung'' movement. Though Marc showed several of his works in the first ''Der Blaue Reiter'' exhibition at the Thannhauser Galleries in Munich between December 1911 and January 1912, as it was the apex of the German

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

movement, the exhibit also showed in Berlin, Cologne, Hagen, and Frankfurt. In 1912, Marc met

Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. His later works were more abstra ...

, whose use of color and the

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...

method was a major influence on Marc's work; fascinated by futurism and

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

, Marc created art that increasingly was stark in nature, painting natural abstract forms which found spiritual value in color. He painted ''The Tiger'' and ''Red Deer'' in 1912 and ''

The Tower of Blue Horses ''The Tower of Blue Horses'' (german: Der Turm der blauen Pferde) is a 1913 oil painting by the German Expressionist artist Franz Marc. It has been called one of his best works, but went missing in 1945. Description ''The Tower of Blue Horses'' ...

'', '' The Foxes'', and '' Fate of the Animals'' in 1913.

Wartime

Military NACHLASS of the painter Franz Marc

With the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, Marc was drafted into the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

as a cavalryman. By February 1916, as shown in a letter to his wife, he had gravitated to

military camouflage Military camouflage is the use of camouflage by an armed force to protect personnel and equipment from observation by enemy forces. In practice, this means applying colour and materials to military equipment of all kinds, including vehicles, ...

. His technique for hiding artillery from aerial observation was to paint canvas covers in broadly

pointillist Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism" wa ...

style. He took pleasure in creating a series of nine such tarpaulin covers in styles varying "from

Manet A wireless ad hoc network (WANET) or mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a decentralized type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points ...

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

", suspecting that the latter could be the most effective against aircraft flying at or higher. After mobilization of the German Army, the government identified notable artists to be withdrawn from combat for their own safety. Marc was on the list but was struck in the head and killed instantly by a shell splinter during the

in 1916 before orders for reassignment could reach him.

Style

Marc made some sixty prints in

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

and

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

. Most of his mature work portrays animals, usually in natural settings. His work is characterized by bright primary color, an almost cubist portrayal of animals, stark simplicity and a profound sense of emotion. Even in his own time, his work attracted notice in influential circles. Marc gave an emotional meaning or purpose to the colors he used in his work: blue was used to portray masculinity and spirituality, yellow represented feminine joy, and red encased the sound of violence. One of Marc's best-known paintings is ''Tierschicksale'' (''Animal Destinies'' or '' Fate of the Animals''), which hangs in the

Kunstmuseum Basel The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the oldest public art collection in the world and is generally considered to be the most important museum of art in Switzerland. It is listed as a heritage site of national significance. Its lineage extends back to t ...

. Marc had completed the work in 1913, when "the tension of impending cataclysm had pervaded society", as one art historian noted. On the rear of the canvas, Marc wrote, "Und Alles Sein ist flammend Leid" ("And all being is flaming agony"). Serving in World War I, Marc wrote to his wife about the painting, " tis like a premonition of this warhorrible and shattering. I can hardly conceive that I painted it."

Nazi Germany and the seizure of so-called "degenerate" art

After the

National Socialists Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

took power, they suppressed modern art; in 1936 and 1937, the Nazis condemned the late Marc as an ''entarteter Künstler'' (degenerate artist) and ordered approximately 130 of his works removed from exhibition in German museums. The ''Blue Horses'' was auctioned off at the infamous

Theodor Fischer Theodor Fischer (28 May 1862 – 25 December 1938) was a German architect and teacher. Career Fischer planned public housing projects for the city of Munich beginning in 1893. He was the joint founder and first chairman of the Deutscher Wer ...

gallery "

degenerate art Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...

" sale in Lucerne, on 29 June 1939, and acquired by the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Liège. His painting ''Landscape With Horses'' was discovered in 2012 along with more than a thousand other paintings, in the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt whose father,

Hildebrand Gurlitt Hildebrand Gurlitt (15 September 1895 – 9 November 1956) was a German art historian, art gallery director who dealt in Nazi-looted art as one of Hitler's and Goering's four authorized dealers for "degenerate art". A Nazi-associated art dealer ...

, was one of Hitler's four official art dealers of Modernist art the Nazis called "degenerate" which the Nazis sold or traded to raise cash for the Third Reich. In 2017, the family of

Kurt Grawi Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad (name), Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt (surn ...

demanded the restitution of Marc's painting '' The Foxes'' (1913) from Düsseldorf's Kunstpalast. Grawi, a German Jewish banker who had owned the painting before the Nazis rose to power was arrested on

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...

and incarcerated in

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...

in 1938, before he managed to flee to Chile in 1939. The painting passed through

Galerie Nierendorf The Galerie Nierendorf is a commercial art gallery based in Berlin founded by Karl and Josef Nierendorf in 1920, and reopened in 1955 as the Galerie Meta Nierendorf by Florian and Inga Karsch. Founding and early years The brothers Karl (1889– ...

, and William and Charlotte Dieterle, according to the German Lost Art Foundation. In 2021, the German Advisory Commission recommended that the city of Düsseldorf restitute the painting to Grawi's heirs; this was done, and the painting was sold at Christie's by Grawi's heirs in 2022.

Legacy and honors

Marc's family house in Munich is marked with a historical plaque. The

Franz Marc Museum The Franz Marc Museum is a museum located in Kochel am See, Upper Bavaria, dedicated to German Expressionist painter Franz Marc. The museum shows paintings by Franz Marc, and also works of art of his contemporaries and other important artists of ...

which is located in Kochel am See, opened in 1986 and is dedicated to the artist's life and work. It houses many of his paintings, and also works by other contemporary artists. In October 1998, several of Marc's paintings garnered record prices at Christie's art auction house in London, including ''Rote Rehe I'' (''Red Deer I''), which sold for $3.3 million. In October 1999, his ''Der Wasserfall'' (''The Waterfall'') was sold by Sotheby's in London for $5.06 million. This price set a record for Franz Marc's work and for twentieth-century German painting. In 2008, the former record was again broken when Marc's ''Weidende Pferde III'' (''Grazing Horses III'') was sold for £12,340,500 ($24,376,190) at Sotheby's. This record was again beaten by the £42.6m sale of ''The Foxes'' in 2022.

Public collections

Among the public collections holding works by Franz Marc are : *

Museum de Fundatie Museum de Fundatie () is a museum for the visual arts in Zwolle, Netherlands. Museum de Fundatie forms part of the Hannema-de Stuers Foundation, to which Kasteel het Nijenhuis in Heino also belongs. Museum de Fundatie possesses a collection of vis ...

Zwolle Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is o ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

, New York *

Kochel am See Kochel am See is a municipality and a town in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria, on the shores of Kochelsee. The municipality consists of the districts Altjoch, Brunnenbach, Ort, Pessenbach, Pfisterberg, Walchensee and Ried. ...

Lenbachhaus The Lenbachhaus () is a building housing an art museum in Munich's '' Kunstareal''. The building The Lenbachhaus was built as a Florentine-style villa for the painter Franz von Lenbach between 1887 and 1891 by Gabriel von Seidl and was expa ...

Selected images

File:Franz Marc-The Yellow Cow-1911.jpg, ''Die gelbe Kuh'', ''The

Yellow Cow ''Yellow Cow'' (german: Gelbe Kuh) is a painting by the German artist Franz Marc, dating to 1911. It is one of the artist's most well known works, and is one of several of his depictions of animals in Expressionist style. This work is oil on can ...

'' (1911), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York File:Marc-blue-black fox.jpg, ''Fuchs'', ''Fox'' (1911), Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal File:Franz Marc- Die kleinen blauen Pferde.jpg, ''Die kleinen blauen Pferde'', ''The Little Blue Horses'' (1911),

Staatsgalerie Stuttgart The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (, "State Gallery") is an art museum in Stuttgart, Germany, it opened in 1843. In 1984, the opening of the Neue Staatsgalerie (''New State Gallery'') designed by James Stirling transformed the once provincial gallery ...

File:Franz Marc Roter Stier, 1912.jpg, ''Roter Stier'', ''Red Bull'' (1912),

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, abbreviated as ) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just oppo ...

in Moscow File:Franz Marc - Der Traum - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Der Traum'', ''The Dream'' (1912),

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum (in Spanish, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza (), named after its founder), or simply the Thyssen, is an art museum in Madrid, Spain, located near the Prado Museum on one of the city's main boulevards. I ...

in Madrid File:Das Äffchen (Franz Marc, 1912).jpg, ''Das Äffchen'', ''The Little Monkey'' (1912),

, Munich File:Franz Marc - The Foxes - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Die Füchse'', '' The Foxes'' (1913), private collection File:Marc, Franz - The Tiger - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Der Tiger'', ''The Tiger'' (1912),

in Munich File:Franz Marc 029a.jpg, ''Der Turm der blauen Pferde'',
''

'' (1913),
missing since 1945 File:Franz Marc-The fate of the animals-1913.jpg, ''Tierschicksale'', '' Fate of the Animals'' (1913),

in Basel File:GUGG Dreaming Horse.jpg, ''Träumendes Pferd'', ''Dreaming Horse'' (1913),

, New York File:GUGG Young Boy with a Lamb; The Good Shepherd.jpg, ''Knabe mit Lamm; Der gute Hirte'', ''Young Boy with a Lamb; The Good Shepherd'' (1911), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York File:Franz Marc 020.jpg, ''Rehe im Walde (II)'', ''Deer in the Forest II'' (1914)

References

External links

Franz Marc Virtual Gallery

Gallery of Marc's work

WebMuseum Franz Marc Page

Franz Marc's Cats in Art
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marc, Franz 1880 births 1916 deaths Artists from Munich People from the Kingdom of Bavaria 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists 20th-century German printmakers German male painters German Expressionist painters Modern painters Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Camoufleurs Military personnel of Bavaria German military personnel killed in World War I German Army personnel of World War I