Long Yellow Horse by Franz Marc

Long Yellow Horse is a painting in the Cubist style by Franz Marc, a German painter who was born in 1880

Marc was a painter who, from the start of the 20th century onwards, began to paint in an increasingly Expressionist style. In fact, he became known as one of the founders of Expressionism in Germany.

Long Yellow Horse uses colour and form in an abstract and vibrant way to create an engaging and Expressionist picture of an animal.

From around 1911 onwards, Marc started to become more and more interested in animal forms. Pigs and horses were two of his favourite subjects for paintings during this period, and so Long Yellow Horse can be said to be part of a series of animal paintings.

Marc died in 1916, so this is also one of his later paintings. Comparing it to the realist works that he painted right at the turn of the century whilst he was studying at art school in Munich demonstrates just how much Marc's technique changed and developed during his career.

Long Yellow Horse was painted in oils on canvas. Oil on canvas was a pretty consistent choice of medium for Marc and he took his oils with him wherever he travelled.

This painting was created after a considerable period of travel in Marc's life. After leaving art school in around 1903, Marc visited France, Greece and many other locations. He was also no doubt influenced by earlier painters, especially Picasso. It is interesting that Long Yellow Horse is painted with yellow, red and rose hues because it was created in a period when Marc was focusing on blue hued depictions of animals.