Franz Marc

by Mark Lawrence Rosenthal, Franz Marc

Now available in paperback, this overview of a brief but brilliant career focuses on the symbolic poignancy of Franz Marc’s paintings and his underlying vision of a world populated largely by animals. Before his tragic death at Verdun in 1916, Franz Marc made an enormous contribution to German Expressionist painting. A co-founder with Wassily Kandinsky of the Blue Rider Group, Marc and his fellow artists sought to make sense of the destruction around them through symbolism and abstraction. The curator of America’s first exhibition of Marc’s paintings, Marc Rosenthal offers penetrating insight into the artist’s transcendent paintings, in which feelings of despair and exaltation are brought to life through images of animals, landscapes, and pure abstraction. Seventy-one full-color plates demonstrate the brilliant tones and bold style that characterize Marc’s work. The accompanying text provides an important biographical perspective and critical appraisal of one of the most significant artists to emerge amid the chaos of early twentieth century Europe.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[Susan Liston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a lovely book, great reproductions. I try so hard to read the text in these things, and I get through as much as I can. But these art writers make it tough. In reference to "Yellow Cow", he says ..."perhaps [his] only case....of a joyous animal....the cow has surrendered to its nature, as it were, it gestures in a mime language, like those poses in Hodler which also speak of metaphysical states. This animal emotion perfectly evokes the concept proposed by Kandinsky called "inner necessity"... etc.

Sigh. Somewhere between what I would say, which is something like "Here is a nice colorful picture of a happy looking cow". and the above, lies a happy medium, I should hope.