

He took pleasure in creating a series of nine such tarpaulin covers in styles varying "from Manet to Kandinsky", suspecting that the latter could be the most effective against aircraft flying at 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) or higher.Īfter mobilization of the German Army, the government identified notable artists to be withdrawn from combat for their own safety. His technique for hiding artillery from aerial observation was to paint canvas covers in broadly pointillist style. By February 1916, as shown in a letter to his wife, he had gravitated to military camouflage.

With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Marc was drafted into the Imperial German Army as a cavalryman.

The military person's estate of Franz Marc on display in a museum He painted The Tiger and Red Deer in 1912 and The Tower of Blue Horses, Foxes, and Fate of the Animals in 1913.

In 1912, Marc met Robert Delaunay, whose use of color and the futurist method was a major influence on Marc's work fascinated by futurism and cubism, Marc created art that increasingly was stark in nature, painting natural abstract forms which found spiritual value in color. 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 movement, the exhibit also showed in Berlin, Cologne, Hagen, and Frankfurt. In 1911, Marc founded the Der Blaue Reiter journal, which became the center of an artist circle, along with Macke, Wassily Kandinsky, and others who had decided to split off from the Neue Künstlervereinigung movement. 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 in Munich. A few years later, in 1910, Marc developed an important friendship with the artist August Macke. In 1906, Marc traveled with his elder brother Paul, a Byzantine expert, to Thessaloniki, Mount Athos, and various other Greek locations. He married twice, first to Marie Schnür, then to Maria Franck both were artists. After the 1903 trip, he ceased attending the Academy of Fine Arts.ĭuring 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 discovered a strong affinity for the work of painter Vincent van Gogh. In Paris, Marc frequented artistic circles, meeting numerous artists and the actress Sarah Bernhardt. In 19, 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. 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, where his teachers included Gabriel von Hackl and Wilhelm von Diez. Two years later, however, he enrolled in the arts program of Munich University. At the age of 17 Marc wanted to study theology, as his older brother Paul had.
#Franz marc artist professional#
His father, Wilhelm Marc, was a professional landscape painter his mother, Sophie, was a homemaker and a devout, socially liberal Calvinist. He was drafted to serve in the German Army at the beginning of World War I, and died two years later at the Battle of Verdun.įranz Marc was born in 1880 in Munich, the then capital of the Kingdom of Bavaria. His mature works mostly depict animals, and are known for bright colouration. He was a founding member of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a journal whose name later became synonymous with the circle of artists collaborating in it. Franz Moritz Wilhelm Marc was a German painter and printmaker, one of the key figures of German Expressionism.
