German artist Franz Mark: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Expressionist paintings have always fascinated and surprised art lovers. This trend appeared at the end of the 19th century, but reached its greatest prosperity at the beginning of the 20th. The brightest representatives of this direction were born in Austria and Germany. Franz Mark was no exception. He, along with other creators, tried to express in his paintings his view of the ugliness of civilization that caused the events of the 20th century, in particular the First World War.

Birth

Franz Marc was born in 1880. His father was also an artist, which directly influenced his future destiny. Despite the fact that in his youth he dreamed of becoming a priest, at the age of 20 he decided to pay attention to art.

Training

The painter lived a short life. In 1900, the Academy of Arts became his home, where he studied and got acquainted with Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Then this place was a kind of abode of world creativity. The Munich Academy of Arts gathered future famous artists under its roof. Hackl and Dietz studied alongside Franz. Although they became famous, they still could not catch up with Mark.

The young artist triednot sit still, but study art not only in your own country. This explains his trips to Paris, where he just got acquainted with French trends in art. Here he could see the works of the great Van Gogh and Gauguin.

The painter's second trip to Paris influenced the themes of his future creations. Returning to Munich, he began to study animal anatomy in depth in order to portray his view of nature in his paintings.

Blue Rider

The "New Munich Art Association" attracted the attention of Franz after meeting August Macke. Then, in 1910, he decided to be part of this organization. For a long time he could not get acquainted with the head of the community, Wassily Kandinsky. A year later, they finally met. After 10 months, the artists Kandinsky, Macke and Franz decided to create their own Blue Rider organization.

Immediately they were able to organize an exhibition where Franz presented his work. Then the best German expressionist paintings were collected in the Tanhauser Gallery. And a trio of Munich painters worked to promote their society.

Cubism and the last years of life

The last stage in the life of Franz Marc can be considered his acquaintance with the work of Robert Delaunay. His Italian cubism and futurism made a significant contribution to the future work of the German painter. At the end of his life, Mark changed direction in his work. His canvases depicted more and more abstract details, ragged and blocky elements.

The start of World War I inspired manycreators of art and literature to their works. But over time, the creators became disillusioned with the events and realities of the war. Franz Marc voluntarily went to the front. There he, like many other creative people, became disillusioned with the events. He was wounded by bloodshed, terrible pictures and a sad outcome. But the artist was not destined to return and embody all his creative ideas. At the age of 36, the painter died from a shell fragment near Verdun.

Cloths and style

Life affects the artist, his work and style. Franz also experienced changes that poured new colors into his canvases. The German was by nature a dreamer. He suffered for humanity and was sad for the lost values in the modern world. In the paintings, he tried to display something fantastic, peaceful, beautiful, but with the naked eye you can see that each canvas was filled with longing.

Writers and artists of the early 20th century tried to find and recreate the golden age, but the war turned everything into a pile of rubble, and creative people tried to heal the wounds. In his works, Franz Marc tried to reflect, first of all, the philosophical principle. And everything that was depicted in the pictures mattered. Each color was given its own symbols, each item was endowed with something special. Colors and shapes influenced the human psyche, his mood and self-values.

Blue Horse

Franz Marc has always had a special approach to creating his paintings. The "Blue Horse" has become something symbolic in the work of the painter. This picture is most popular amongthe rest. In addition, along with others, she stands out with a special style. Just looking at her brings a person into a state of charm and piercing.

The picture shows a horse that is full of strength. It symbolizes the youth. The body of the horse has a somewhat broken shape and an interesting overexposure. A white beam seems to pierce the chest, while the mane and hooves, on the contrary, are shrouded in blue.

The fact that the color of the horse is blue is of unusual interest. But it is worth noting no less attractive background. Bottom line: the horse complements the background, and the background complements the horse. As conceived by the painter, these two objects cannot exist separately, they are interconnected and are one whole, although they stand out from each other.

After the creation of this painting, Franz tried to explain his idea to Maka. He argued that blue is the severity of a man, yellow is feminine softness and sensuality, red is a matter that is suppressed by the two previous shades.

Birds

Another picture worthy of your attention. It was also written by Franz Marc. "Birds" is another special work of the artist. It was written in 1914 and became the first unusual work that characterized the new style of the painter. This is a picture from the very mature painting of Mark, which became a reflection of the animal world. The artist felt that animals were the very ideal, which were much higher and purer than people.

"Birds" is the same style that appeared after Robert Delaunay. Such a picture, despite its bright colors, emphasizes some kind of anxiety.and hostile attitude. Most likely, this is due to sharp transitions from one shade to another. The picture becomes poignant and apocalyptic.

Looking at the canvas, it seems that there is some kind of explosion that excites and disturbs the birds. They scatter and at the same time remain calm. When the world is overtaken by war, someone starts to fuss, and someone tries to accept the situation. "Birds" has become a clear reflection of the military world with its fears and anxieties.