Franz Marc was born February 8, 1880, in the German town of Munich. Marc was one of the main painters and printmakers of the German Expressionist movement. He was one of the creators of “Der Blaue Reiter” or in English “The Blue Rider”. His father was his main inspiration because he worked as a professor at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. The young Franz originally wanted to become a priest. But then he decided to study philosophy. And now again his decision changed and made painting his main focus.
In 1900 he received classes at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Paris at the time was the center of the arts. Marc traveled to Paris to study the modern painters like Claude Monet, van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin was a must study for developing artist and painters. He was very influenced
...by these modern French painters. Together with Wassily Kandinsky, whom he had met at the Academy founded the art association The Blue Rider, which I mentioned. As I said Franz Marc was not alone in the founding of The Blue Rider.
Members included Gabriele Munter and Alexeji Jawlensky. But why the name Blue Rider? According to Kandinsky, one day they were both having coffee at the terrace of Sindelsdorf. Both liked the color blue. Marc liked horses and Kandinsky liked riders. So the name Blue Riders was born. For Franz the group had become something like his home and a family. He exchanged ideas about art with close companions. The group had a huge influence and very positive effect on Marc’s creativity. Almost all works of art created by Franz showed animals.
He loved animals, h
thought of them as being innocent, peaceful creatures. His main focus was to paint the world out of an animal’s perspective. Marc was a very spiritual man, that being said his art is not quite easy to understand. Even hundred years’ later people still have trouble understanding his art, although they were documented in articles, books, and letter. In one of his last paintings in 1914, named Fighting Form, the Marc had decided to leave figural painting; this decision was influenced by Kandinsky.
Probably one of his best paintings is Tierschicksale or Animal Destinies, which is displayed in the Kunstmuseum Basel. Marc made over sixty prints, in woodcut and lithography. Once of his best work portrays animals. His work is known for having bright colors. Marc also gave an emotional meaning to all his work, and all of the colors added to his paintings had a purpose. For example according to Marc, the color blue would be used to show masculinity and spirituality, yellow represented feminine joy, red was used to show violence.
Marc’s work was so amazing it did not go unnoticed by the National Socialists, in 1936 and 1937 he was condemned by the Nazis as an “entarteter Kunstler” in other words a degenerate artist, almost 130 of his work was taken away from German museums. Marc volunteered for the German military service when WWI broke out. He had this idea that the war would be some kind of a purification of spoiled and bad civilization.
Marc was shocked to know that his friend Macke was killed in action in 1914, this event completely changed Marc’s opinion about the war. In 1915 he wrote "War is
one of the most evil things to which we sacrificed ourselves. " On March 4, 1916 he was killed in action. But his legacy will always be remembered. In October 1998, many of Marc’s paintings received record prices at Christine’s art auction house in London. His art is known all over the world, Franz Marc definitely one of the greatest and most creative of the 20th century expressionists.
Sources
http://www.artelino.com/articles/franz_marc.asp
