by Tom Gurney
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on October 17, 2026
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000
Looking at Nude Lying among Flowers
A woman lies face down across a bank of green in Franz Marc’s Liegender Akt in Blumen (Nude Lying among Flowers), dated 1910. Her dark hair and bent arm partly hide her face; tall stems and round orange-red blooms rise at the left. A scholarly study identifies the painting as an oil on canvas measuring 72 × 100.5 cm in a private collection. A 2010 Grisebach catalogue records a related Marc drawing, but the drawing is a separate object, not the painting reproduced here. [1] [2]
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Watch on YouTubeA figure across the landscape
The figure stretches almost from one side of the composition to the other. Pink skin lies against several shades of green, while dark, blade-like leaves repeat the sweep of her body. Near the middle, a small patch of red flowers interrupts the broad green bank. Above, the slender stems and orange discs make a shallow screen rather than a deep view into the landscape. The pose is still, yet the curved contour of the figure and the plants carries the eye across the picture. These formal observations describe the visible reproduction; they do not identify the sitter. [3]
Marc’s picture places a human figure within a strongly coloured natural setting before his later, better-known animal paintings. Its body and foliage share sweeping shapes, but the person remains clearly distinct from the ground. For another figure in Marc’s work, see Nude with Cat; for a later arrangement of human bodies and landscape, see Two Women on the Hillside. [2]
Painting and preparatory drawing
The Grisebach record says its small graphite Reclining Nude, dated around 1910, relates to the painting numbered 127 in Hoberg and Jansen’s catalogue of Marc’s works. That relationship documents Marc’s return to the pose; it does not establish the sequence or every change between drawing and canvas. The reproduced painting is marked public domain on Wikimedia Commons and listed there under the same catalogue number. The current private owner is not identified by the sources used for this page. [2] [3]
Artwork Directory
This source-checked selection contains 192 identified works and print designs from the current Franz Marc research set. It is a curated selection, not a complete catalogue raisonné. Some works link to their article here; others link to a collection record. Unresolved identifications are omitted.
Discussion
A reclining figure stretches across a shallow bank of green and flowers.
Reader Insights
Observation
Which curves link the figure to the plants?
Comparison
How does the relation between body and landscape change in Two Women on the Hillside?
Interpretation
Does the face hidden by the arm affect how you read the pose?
Join the Conversation
Which detail changed the way you saw this work? Share a close observation or a comparison with another Marc picture.
References
- Jean Marie Carey, “Eyes Be Closed,” figure 12. View source.
- Grisebach, Liegender Akt drawing. View source.
- Wikimedia Commons, exact image. View source.
- Related artwork image, Yellow Cow: Photograph by Dr. Alexey Yakovlev; resized without crop or colour change, CC BY-SA 2.0.
- Splash image: Franz Marc, Liegender Akt in Blumen (Nude Lying among Flowers), 1910, oil on canvas, 72 × 100.5 cm. Private collection. Public-domain faithful reproduction from Wikimedia Commons. Image file and rights.
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