Franz Marc
Franz Marc was a German printmaker and artist; he had a great influence on art during his time and is now considered to be one of the key figures of the Expressionist movement in Germany.
Marc co-founded a magazine publication series, The Blue Rider. It focused on the Expressionist movement, and it was well known to be connected to a small group of artists who were in charge of posting images, as well as breaking stories, during the time that the magazine was in existence in Germany.
Marc used colours with symbolic meanings: blue, for example, represents what is masculine and intellectual, while yellow symbolises femininity and warmth.
No longer bound by the truthful representation of nature, yet without wholly relinquishing links to the real world, Franz Marc provides in The Dream a masterly reflection of “the organic rhythm... of all things,” highlighting his awareness of Italian Futurist and French Cubist theories. The composition is structured around dynamic lines radiating outwards from the female figure in the foreground; naked and asleep, she becomes a symbol of the harmony between the human world and the animal realm. The varied creatures that surround her seem to be the product of her dream.