Franz Marc

Franz Marc was a German painter and printmaker who lived from 1880 to 1916 and one of the key figures of German Expressionism. He was a founding member of Der Blaue Reiter, the Blue Rider, a journal whose name later became synonymous with the circle of artists collaborating in it. His mature works are mostly of animals and are known for their bright colors. He was drafted into the German Army at the beginning of World War I and died two years later at the Battle of Verdun. In the 1930s the Nazis named him a degenerate artist, but most of his work survived the Second World War, and it is now exhibited in many eminent galleries and museums.