Bull by Franz Marc

Bull is a 1911, oil on canvas piece by Franz Marc and is currently housed in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Bull has bright and relaxed feel to it provided by Marcs' use of bold, vivid colours and large, simple shapes. Seemingly modelled on a Pinzgauer bull, a species native to Austria, Marc has imbued this exceedingly strong beast with a sense of fragility and vulnerability, endearing it to the viewer.

The care taken by Marc in his portrayal of the bull is displayable proof of his love for the natural and animal worlds.

Son of landscape painter Wilhelm Marc, Franz Marc was born in Munich in 1880 and received an education through the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, an art school still operational to this day.

Whilst studying, Marc was mentored by von Hackl and von Deiz, painters skilled in the Naturalist style of the time . It was only after completing his education and travelling to France that Marcs' work begin its transformation to the Expressionist style which made him famous.

During his time in Paris, Marc become a regular visitor of the local artistic soirees and found his muse for his paintings in the collections of van Gogh and Picasso.

Unfortunately, Marcs' career as a painter of public art ended with his recruitment into the army at the beginning of World War 1 in 1914, although his skills with a paintbrush led him to be commissioned to create camouflage during 1916.

These tarpaulins were created using broad Pointillism and were used to hide German artillery from Germany's enemies. Marc would unfortunately meet his end during the Battle of Verdun after being wounded by shrapnel.