Weasels Playing by Franz Marc

The 1911 oil on canvas 'Weasels Playing' clearly demonstrates not only Marcs' shift to Expressionism but also his profound love of the natural and animal worlds

Marc seems to have intentionally played on the weasels natural elusiveness by almost hiding their long fluid forms within the trees. The painting as a whole has very smooth and flowing feel from the use of long, curving brushstrokes and the playfulness of the subjects has been joyfully recreated in Marcs' use of bright and cheerful colours.

The soft composition, the sense that nothing has a truly solid form, only works to add to the inward feeling of calm that can be gained from this painting. This in turn makes 'Weasels Playing' stand out from Marcs' work as most of his painting tend to provoke feelings of dread from viewers through their use of sharp block forms and dark palettes.

With works such as this, it is unfortunate that on the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914, Marc was called to serve the German army. Although this ended his career as an artist for the public domain, Marc earned recognition within the military and, by 1916, was painting tarpaulin camouflage using Pointillist techniques to hide artillery from enemy aircraft.

Marc would never return to his Expressionist work as he was killed by shrapnel during the Battle of Verdun before orders to remove him from the field, on account of him being an artist of renown, could reach his commander.

Born in 1880, Franz Marc was a German Expressionist from Munich. Born to Wilhelm Marc, Franz Marc attended the Munich Academy of Fine Arts before travelling to France where he frequented the artist circles of Paris and found inspiration in the work of Vincent van Gogh.