Donkey Frieze 1911

Curator: Look at those donkeys! They seem a little blue, or purple? And a bit grumpy! Editor: That's a striking initial reaction to Franz Marc’s "Donkey Frieze" painted in 1911, currently held in a Private Collection. Marc’s artistic output and engagement with the Expressionist movement during that time are remarkable, even beyond the finished canvas. He uses oil paint, pushing the limits to explore a different type of landscape painting. Curator: It is striking. I’m not usually drawn to depictions of animals but there is something both soothing and unnerving about the way the colors flatten the space. Almost as if these animals are wading into a dreamscape. Is the title of the painting meant to make us consider this work in relation to friezes of ancient Greek or Roman art? Editor: The reference to a 'frieze' situates it within a history of processional art. Here the materials are key: cheap, portable, oil-based paints allowed Marc to depart from the academic tradition of fresco painting—the traditional method to create friezes on the wall of buildings, bringing this traditionally public, large scale, artwork form into a private, intimate, portable context. Curator: You know, considering that makes me look at it in a new way. I now feel the weight of history but the lightness of a personal vision being worked out spontaneously. And what are your thoughts on these angular shapes surrounding them? Editor: Given Marc's interest in the relationship between animals and their environments, the stylized landscape probably signifies the harmony or disruption within those systems. Marc worked meticulously through color theory, even assigning particular meanings and emotions to certain colors; it appears that the various planes of pigment signify the raw emotion expressed through and between these creatures. Curator: Yes, exactly! Now the somber blue feels more significant as a key to unlock a deeper state. It has been great discussing this today! Editor: Agreed. The work presents fascinating questions about material transformation, its ties to social context and historical narrative that all culminate into an intriguing tension in this composition.