The Enchanted Mill 1913

Franz Marc's *The Enchanted Mill* at the Art Institute of Chicago, conjures a world seen through feeling, layered with oil paint. I imagine him in the studio, circling, adding strokes of pure color. That insistent red, those blues, greens, and yellows – it's all so evocative. The paint isn't thick, but the colors are, creating a surface that feels both flat and deep at the same time. I keep thinking about that red mill wheel, how it dominates the left side, full of kinetic energy. It's a gesture of optimism in the face of the oncoming war that would eventually end his life. I wonder if Marc knew he was part of a longer conversation? Like Kandinsky or the Blaue Reiter group, Marc was pushing painting towards something else, towards a spiritual language. They each speak to the other across time, adding new verses to the song of painting.