Lion hunt for Delacroix 1913

Editor: Right, let's talk about Franz Marc's "Lion Hunt for Delacroix," created in 1913 using woodcut printmaking. My first thought is just…chaos! It feels very active, raw even, this battle scene rendered with such stark contrasts. How do you see it? Curator: Chaos is a good word! The scene writhes. Look how he's not just depicting a hunt, but an almost primordial struggle, using these really bold black and white contrasts typical of the Expressionists to amplify the drama. And "for Delacroix" - he's reaching back, honoring the romantic intensity of Delacroix's own lion hunts, but making it thoroughly modern, visceral. Doesn't it almost feel claustrophobic? Editor: Yes, totally claustrophobic. All that dense black ink... but what do you make of the, um, abstraction of the figures? They're not exactly anatomically correct lions and hunters. Curator: Precisely! He is not painting what he sees but rather, expressing the interior emotional intensity and even some anxiety of his pre-war moment through the conflict with external events: the lion hunt, humanity’s interaction with nature, and art history itself. And there are interesting stylistic components here; he simplified forms – we have some really basic shapes, curves, but so much energy. Do you find beauty here? Editor: Beauty…hmmm, it's not conventionally beautiful, more… intense? The energy is captivating, like a visual explosion. It definitely pulls you in. Curator: Agreed. "Intense" captures it well. And I suspect it’s the artist letting the experience wash through him and becoming that. And you know, I’m so glad you see that explosion! It's a world about to break apart! Editor: It is so true, so dark, almost prophetic about World War One. Thank you, this image and the history behind it has more depth to it than I imagined. Curator: My pleasure! I suppose we now share the moment!