Many People have heard of Franz Marc’s Blue Horse Paintings-so I’m going to start my BLUE blog post off with him!
Born in Munich Bavaria , Germany – Died in War, In Braquis, France
My favorite abstract artist is Franz Marc. He was born in in 1880 Germany. In 1900, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich and in 1903 and 1907 he spent a lot of time going to Museums and copying other famous art pieces in France (mostly in Paris).
He signed up as a cavalryman in the German Army in the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 but by February 1916, had been moved to military camouflage. His technique was to paint canvas covers (for hiding artillery from aerial observation) in pointillist style. He took enjoyment by creating a series of nine tarpaulin covers in styles varying “from Manet to Kandinsky”.
Franz Marc was also one of the founders of the artist group in Germany, Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) made up of several Russian immigrants and a few of German natives.
After mobilization of the German Army, the government identified notable artists to be withdrawn from combat for their own safety. Marc was on the list but sadly he was struck in the head and killed instantly by a shell during the Battle of Verdun in 1916 before orders for reassignment could reach him. He had his sketchbook of animals with him when he died in his pocket ~
Here is a quote from Franz Marc:
“Today we are searching for things in nature that are hidden behind the veil of appearance… We look for and paint this inner, spiritual side of nature”.
Here are some of his other famous Blue Horse paintings~
An interesting fact about this painting: In 1936 and 1937, the Nazis condemned the late Franz Marc as an degenerate artist and ordered approximately 130 of his works removed from exhibition in German museums but, the original painting of “The Large Blue Horses” by Franz Marc was just found in 2011 along with over a thousand other paintings, in the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt whose dealer father, Hildebrand Gurlitt, was a collector of Modernist art . Who Knew that almost a hundred years later it would turn up?!
Eric Carle was born in the USA in 1929 but spent his childhood in Germany. At that time , the Nazi’s forbid creating or displaying modern or abstract art , which they called “degenerate”. But one day, when Eric was around 13 years old(like me!) his art teacher, Herr Krauss, secretly showed him some of the forbidden art work, like Franz Marc’s. ” I like the freedom and the looseness in the way you draw and paint”, Herr Krauss said, “but I am only allowed to teach realistic art”. And then, pointing at the paintings, he said: ” just look at the looseness ,the freedom and–ah! the beauty of these paintings! The Nazi’s have no idea what art is ; they are charlatans!” At first Eric was shocked by the art and feared that Herr Krauss had went mad. Now Eric says, ” My green lion , Polka-dotted donkey , blue horse and other animals painted in the “wrong” colors were really born that day seventy years ago”.
He has also written about 50 children’s books, including ,” The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse” about Franz Marc who painted animals in “wrong” colors!
The Guru’s Blue Horse~
This is oldest of the paintings of Blue Horses that I am showing you today. This painting is of Guru Gobind Singh riding his blue horse. It was painted in India in the 1800’s ~ the artist is unknown. Wouldn’t be cool if there really was a horse this blue coloring today?! At Hazoor Sahib, Nanded there are descendants of this horse that have a white/gray color but have lost mostly all their blue coloring . On the festival of Holla Mahalla or gurpurbs they are beautifully decorated with tassels and saddles but out of “respect ” these stallions are never ridden .
Matthew Cusick, Blue Horse, 2011
Inlaid maps on panel
20 x 30 inches
alicia vannoy call
Lexington’s new mascot Big Lex, adapted from Edward Troye’s 1868 portrait of the great racehorse Lexington. This was used for the world Equestrian Games in 2010, but not in 2018! It was just decided yesterday that Canada won the bid for the 2018 Games. Can’t wait to see what horse they come up with!
Be sure to come back next week for part two of the ” Blue, Blue and MORE Blue! Part 2″ Friday!
Hope you all enjoy this post!