The Life of Franz Marc

Born in 1880, the German Expressionist artist began his life as a shy, reclusive boy, attentive of the world around him. He began observing and sketching animals at a very young age. As he matured, he considered a possible career in philosophy after befriending Germanic philologist, Dr. August Caselmann. Regardless, he soon came to realize his calling was in art. After enrolling in Munich Academy of Fine Arts in 1900, his style displayed the conservative naturalism prominent at the institution.

Deer

In 1905, wedding bells were ringing for Marc. Unfortunately, marital bliss with fellow artist, Marie Schnur, did not last long. After the wedding ceremony, young Franz Marc fled to Paris. Despite enduring a rocky personal life, plagued by depression, Marc’s trip to France proved to be a significant step in his artistic progression. Exposed to the art of Post-Impressionists Cezanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh, the young artist’s traditional training was challenged. The symbolism and emotion of Van Gogh’s work had a particularly strong impact on Marc.

Another important turning point in the life of Franz Marc occurred in 1910, when Marc met August Macke and Vasily Kandinsky. It was at that year that Marc and Kandinsky established the Blue Rider movement that embodied the majority of Marc’s most characteristic pieces.

Yellow Cow (1911)
(click image for larger view)

In 1911, Marc found romance again. His happy marriage to Maria Franck is represented in Marc’s piece, Yellow Cow (1911). (See Symbolism for more information on Marc's use of symbolic color in the painting).

In the same year, Marc began experimenting with more geometrical forms and linear rhythms. Tiger (1912) demonstrates Marc’s more compactly organized approach. In this piece, the subject remains a separate entity within its environment. Tiger serves as a prelude for further simplification of form into geometric shapes as he became more interested in a branch of Analytic Cubism known as Orphism.

Orphism focused on the faceted, broken down forms of Analytic Cubism, yet incorporated contrasting colors. In 1912 during a trip to Paris, Marc befriended and fell under the influence of the prominent Orphist artist, Robert Delaunay.

Tiger (1912)

Red Tower

Delaunay, The Red Tower (1911)

The breakdown of form and convergence of subject and background served to emphasize Marc’s theme of the Apocalypse. (See Doctrine for more information). The shattering of forms is demonstrated in Fate of Animals (1913). The apocalyptic nature of Marc’s art reflects the chaotic state of the world at the outset of the First World War. The artist died in battle in 1916 near Verdun-sur-Meuse, France.

Fate of Animals (1913)
(click image for larger view)