Blue Horse II

Every Sunday this month we present the collection of Kunstmuseum Bern in Switzerland. Time for this beautiful work by Franz Marc :) . 

Turned away from the viewer, a blue horse hovers against an incredible colored landscape. Beneath the hooves of the animal there is a path — or is it a stream? — leading to an area in which there is a suggestion of a hill, the sky, and clouds. The horse is standing still, but a strong gust of wind seems to be blowing through its tail and through the landscape. Free from any practical use as a riding or working animal, the horse is of an impressive size. Its blue color recalls the color of yearning in Romanticism. Since the horse is presented from behind, the gaze of the viewer moves in the same direction as the gaze of the horse. This reflects Franz Marc's attempt to empathize with the soul of the animal. It is as if we are experiencing the world from the perspective of the horse. 

From an early stage, the main interest of artist and Munich native Franz Marc is in the world of animals, to which he feels a close affinity. Deer, dogs, cows and, above all, horses serve as the motifs with which he develops his vision of a new art. Marc depicts them in pure red, blue, and yellow, realistically at first, then increasingly freely. He embeds them in abstract landscapes, which he brings to life with the complementary colors green, orange, and violet. Closely linked with the Bern picture Blue Horse II is the painting Blue Horse I, which has the same dimensions and was also created in 1911. It shows a young horse from the front and can be found in the Lenbachhaus in Munich. 

In the year in which our painting was completed, Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky founded the "Der Blaue Reiter" ("The Blue Rider") almanac. Kandinsky noted in retrospect: "We invented the name Der Blaue Reiter at a coffee table under the arbor in the garden at Sindelsdorf: We both loved blue. Marc loved horses, I loved riders." The book, which they co-edited, appeared in 1912 and would prove to be one of the most important programmatic writings on art of the 20th century. The artists who worked around "Der Blauer Reiter" included August Macke, Gabriele Münter, Alexej Jawlensky, and Paul Klee. They not only exhibited their works together, but also shared the view that an inner connection existed between the latest trends in painting and works in the Gothic, folk, and children's art genres. With the outbreak of the First World War, the activities of the group came to an end. Wassily Kandinsky returned to Russia, and Franz Marc, who volunteered for active service, fell at the Battle of Verdun at the age of 36.