Franz Marc

Born in Munich on February 8, 1880, Franz Marc became one of the central figures of German Expressionism. He trained in art in Munich and later helped found Der Blaue Reiter with Wassily Kandinsky, a group that pushed modern art toward greater freedom, symbolism, and abstraction.

Marc is especially remembered for his paintings of animals, including horses, deer, foxes, and tigers. Rather than painting them as simple studies from nature, he used bold color and simplified shapes to suggest inner feeling and a deeper harmony between living creatures and the natural world.

His career was brief but highly influential. He died near Verdun, France, on March 4, 1916, while serving in World War I, leaving behind a body of work that became one of the defining achievements of early twentieth-century art.