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German Expressionism

Works from the Collection


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THE COLLECTION

Franz Marc

German, 1880–1916

Starr Figura, German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse, New York, The Museum of Modern Art, 2011

Painter, watercolorist, printmaker. Gave up studying theology and philosophy for painting in 1900. By 1910 discovered main artistic theme— animals—which he regarded as uncorrupted symbols of spiritual renewal. Rejected naturalistic use of color and sought cosmic unity of figure and landscape, matter and spirit. Met Kandinsky in December 1910, and with him organized first Blaue Reiter exhibition later that year and coedited its almanac of 1912. Linked Munich and Berlin Expressionist circles; included Brücke prints in 1912 Blaue Reiter exhibition of graphic arts and helped organize the First German Autumn Salon, an important exhibition surveying European modernism, at Galerie Der Sturm in 1913. After 1912 applied lessons of Cubist fracturing of space learned through Robert Delaunay's Orphism and Italian Futurism. Volunteered and immediately sent to front in August 1914. Enthusiasm for war, and its potential to renew European society, rocked by death of friend August Macke a month later. Was himself killed in action, in March 1916, at age thirty-six.

During short career made forty-six prints and some two hundred drawings and watercolors. Most of his twenty-three woodcuts, which supplanted lithography in 1911, printed by hand in small editions, although some published in Der Sturm; some also reprinted by his widow after his death.

Despite decorated war record, posthumously condemned as degenerate by Nazis, who removed 130 of his works from public collections.

Selected Bibliography

Hoberg, Annegret, and Helmut Friedel, eds. Franz Marc: The Retrospective. Exh. cat. Munich: Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus München und Kunstbau, 2005.

Hoberg, Annegret, and Isabelle Jansen. Franz Marc: Werkverzeichnis. Skizzenbücher und Druckgraphik. Vol. 3. Munich: C. H. Beck, forthcoming.

Lankheit, Klaus. Franz Marc: Katalog der Werke. Cologne: DuMont Schauberg, 1970.

Heather Hess

Works by Franz Marc

  • Franz Marc. Bookplate Daniel Pesl I (Exlibris Daniel Pesl I). (1901)
    Franz Marc
    Bookplate Daniel Pesl I (Exlibris Daniel Pesl I)
    (1901)
    Franz Marc. Bookplate Daniel Pesl I (Exlibris Daniel Pesl I). (1901)
  • Franz Marc. Bookplate Daniel Pesl II (Exlibris Daniel Pesl II). (c. 1902)
    Franz Marc
    Bookplate Daniel Pesl II (Exlibris Daniel Pesl...
    (c. 1902)
    Franz Marc. Bookplate Daniel Pesl II (Exlibris Daniel Pesl II). (c. 1902)
  • Franz Marc. Bookplate (Exlibris). (c. 1902)
    Franz Marc
    Bookplate (Exlibris)
    (c. 1902)
    Franz Marc. Bookplate (Exlibris). (c. 1902)
  • Franz Marc. Bookplate Paul Marc I (Ex Libris Paul Marc I). (1902)
    Franz Marc
    Bookplate Paul Marc I (Ex Libris Paul Marc I)
    (1902)
    Franz Marc. Bookplate Paul Marc I (Ex Libris Paul Marc I). (1902)
  • Franz Marc. Book Plate Franz Marc II (Ex Libris Franz Marc II). (1905)
    Franz Marc
    Book Plate Franz Marc II (Ex Libris Franz Marc...
    (1905)
    Franz Marc. Book Plate Franz Marc II (Ex Libris Franz Marc II). (1905)
  • Franz Marc. Fantastic Creature (Fabeltier) (plate preceding page 1) from Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). 1912
    Franz Marc
    Fantastic Creature (Fabeltier) (plate preceding...
    1912
    Franz Marc. Fantastic Creature (Fabeltier) (plate preceding page 1) from Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). 1912
  • Franz Marc. Horses Resting (Ruhende Pferde). 1911
    Franz Marc
    Horses Resting (Ruhende Pferde)
    1911
    Franz Marc. Horses Resting (Ruhende Pferde). 1911
  • Franz Marc. Lizards (Eidechsen). (1912)
    Franz Marc
    Lizards (Eidechsen)
    (1912)
    Franz Marc. Lizards (Eidechsen). (1912)
  • Franz Marc. Three Animals (Drei Tiere). (1912)
    Franz Marc
    Three Animals (Drei Tiere)
    (1912)
    Franz Marc. Three Animals (Drei Tiere). (1912)
  • Franz Marc. Tigers (Tiger). (1912)
    Franz Marc
    Tigers (Tiger)
    (1912)
    Franz Marc. Tigers (Tiger). (1912)
  • Franz Marc. Steer (Stier). (1912)
    Franz Marc
    Steer (Stier)
    (1912)
    Franz Marc. Steer (Stier). (1912)
  • Various Artists, Vasily Kandinsky, Franz Marc. Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). 1912
    Various Artists, Vasily Kandinsky, Franz Marc
    Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider)
    1912
    Various Artists, Vasily Kandinsky, Franz Marc. Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). 1912
  • Franz Marc. Riding School After Ridinger (Reitschule nach Ridinger). (1913)
    Franz Marc
    Riding School After Ridinger (Reitschule nach...
    (1913)
    Franz Marc. Riding School After Ridinger (Reitschule nach Ridinger). (1913)
  • Franz Marc. Lion Hunt After Delacroix (Löwenjagd nach Delacroix). (1913)
    Franz Marc
    Lion Hunt After Delacroix (Löwenjagd nach...
    (1913)
    Franz Marc. Lion Hunt After Delacroix (Löwenjagd nach Delacroix). (1913)
  • Franz Marc. Birth of the Wolves (Geburt der Wölfe). (1913)
    Franz Marc
    Birth of the Wolves (Geburt der Wölfe)
    (1913)
    Franz Marc. Birth of the Wolves (Geburt der Wölfe). (1913)
  • Franz Marc. Blue Horse with Rainbow (Blaues Pferd mit Regenbogen). (1913)
    Franz Marc
    Blue Horse with Rainbow (Blaues Pferd mit...
    (1913)
    Franz Marc. Blue Horse with Rainbow (Blaues Pferd mit Regenbogen). (1913)
  • Franz Marc. Elephant (Elefant). (1913)
    Franz Marc
    Elephant (Elefant)
    (1913)
    Franz Marc. Elephant (Elefant). (1913)
  • Franz Marc. The World Cow. 1913
    Franz Marc
    The World Cow
    1913
    Franz Marc. The World Cow. 1913
  • Franz Marc. Genesis II (Schöpfungsgeschichte II) from The First Portfolio (Die erste Mappe). (1914, posthumously printed and published 1921)
    Franz Marc
    Genesis II (Schöpfungsgeschichte II)...
    (1914, posthumously printed and published 1921)
    Franz Marc. Genesis II (Schöpfungsgeschichte II) from The First Portfolio (Die erste Mappe). (1914, posthumously printed and published 1921)
  • Franz Marc. Cats (Katzen) (in-text plate, title page) from the periodical Der Sturm. Wochenschrift für Kultur und Künste, vol. 5, no. 1 (Apr 1914). 1914
    Franz Marc
    Cats (Katzen) (in-text plate, title page) from...
    1914
    Franz Marc. Cats (Katzen) (in-text plate, title page) from the periodical Der Sturm. Wochenschrift für Kultur und Künste, vol. 5, no. 1 (Apr 1914). 1914
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