Marc, Franz (fränts märk), 1880–1916, German painter. Influenced by August Macke Macke, August (ou`g

st mä`kə), 1887–1914, German painter.
..... Click the link for more information. , he developed a rich, chromatic symbolism. He depicted a mystical world of animals, especially horses, employing devices of distortion to express the animals' own awareness of their lives. Marc's pictorial conception of nature became increasingly abstract, resulting in the formation of colorful, crystalline patterns. Together with Kandinsky Kandinsky, Wassily or Vasily (kăndĭn`skē, Rus.
..... Click the link for more information. and Klee Klee, Paul (poul klā), 1879–1940, Swiss painter, graphic artist, and art theorist, b. near Bern.
..... Click the link for more information. , Marc was a leader of the Blaue Reiter Blaue Reiter, der (dĕr blou`ə rī`tər) [Ger.,=the blue rider], German expressionist art movement, lasting from 1911 to 1914.
..... Click the link for more information. group. He was killed in World War I. Characteristic examples of his art are the Gazelle (Mus. of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, R.I.) and Blue Horses (Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minn.).

Bibliography

See study by G. Schmidt (tr. 1960).

Marc, Franz

(born Feb. 8, 1880, Munich, Ger.—killed in action March 4, 1916, near Verdun, France) German painter. His early works were academic, but exposure to Impressionism and Jugendstil lightened his style, and in 1911, with Vasily Kandinsky and other abstract painters, he became a founding member of the Blaue Reiter group. He believed that spiritual essence is best revealed through abstraction and was passionately interested in the art of “primitive” peoples, children, and the mentally ill. His own work consisted primarily of animal studies, since he believed nonhuman forms of life to be the most expressive manifestation of the vital force of nature.