Marc believed strongly in the importance of unity between people, animals and nature, and his art expressed his desire to hold on to this status within the world, rather than giving in to the destructive potential of the modern machine age.

Franz Marc Expresses a Pantheistic Vision of Life Deer in the Forest, by Franz Marc, 1913

Animals Signified Freedom and the Spiritual World The Large Blue Horses by Franz Marc, 1911, via the Walker Art Center, MinneapolisĤ. He deliberately painted animals in a multi-faceted, abstract way, so that they break apart and merge into one with the wilderness all around them.ģ. For Marc, animals symbolized a pre-industrial age of innocence, when people lived in close harmony with the land. He Used Animals to Symbolize an Age of Innocence Dog Lying in the Snow by Franz Marc, 1911, Städelscher Museums-Vereinįranz Marc was one of a generation of artists who were deeply critical of industrialization, and the knock-on effects it would come to have on the natural world. Thus, the cow unifies both the masculine and feminine forces at play in their marriage.Ģ. Marc saw the color yellow as a feminine force, and blue as a masculine hue. For example, in the painting The Yellow Cow, 1911, Marc paints a yellow cow with blue spots as a symbol of his happy union with Maria Franck, his second wife who he had just recently married. When painting animals in unusual or unexpected colors, such as blue horses or yellow cows, he translated animal forms into otherworldly, abstract metaphors, with bright colors signifying different states of mind. In many of his paintings, Franz Marc explored how animals could become potent symbols for human experiences and emotions. Franz Marc Was Expressing a Personal Mythology The Yellow Cow, by Franz Marc, 1911

Yellow cow by franz marc