Green Horse in Landscape 1912

Franz Marc painted this watercolor ‘Green Horse in Landscape’ using vividly colored pigments on paper. Note the striking, unusual choice of color, and the loose, gestural application of the watercolor. These choices give the artwork a dreamlike, ethereal quality. The traditional medium of watercolor painting is here pushed towards an expressive abstraction. This was the artist's way to convey a sense of spiritual harmony between animals and their environment, rather than aiming for realistic depictions. Marc was part of the ‘Der Blaue Reiter’ group, whose members sought to express inner spiritual truths through art, breaking away from conventional artistic representation. In their pursuit of abstraction, they drew on traditions of folk art and children's art, which rejected academic, industrial modes of art production. This emphasis on material, making, and context reminds us that art is never truly separate from wider social and cultural issues.