White Pigs by Franz Marc

Franz Marc loved and appreciated animals. A lot of his painted masterpieces used animals as the subject matter to communicate an emotion.

The White Pigs painting is one such sample of his works that is raw with emotions.

If a painter's persona could be depicted from the works they produced, then Marc's was a mysterious artist. He came back from fighting the war and dived head fast into the world of arts. It's almost impossible to believe that an ex world war soldier could possess such tender emotions in them from art they created.

The White Pigs painting, also the Sow and her Piglet, is another simple painting from Marc that doesn't rely heavily on cubism. It merely shows a mature sow next to her curled up piglet.

Both animals are painted in white, a colour possibly used to symbolise pure innocence that can only be found in animals. Franz Marc didn't paint humans a lot for he believed mankind had grown to abandon his humble nature; which Marc could only find in animals.

Marc paints the ground around the animals red, as well as the background behind the Sow.

Anyone familiar with his work would spot the significance of red, a colour Franz used to depict brutality or conflict. Just close to the piglet is a reddened ground, the harsh environment the Sow stands guard to protect her young from. Marc could have been alluding to the protective nurturing love a mother has for her children as she brings them to the harsh realities of this world.

Occasionally, Franz took to painting humans but mostly portraits of women. If he did a full portrait it was mostly of nude people painted in a way to show their shameless nature of lying around unclothed. Perfect painting examples are the two pieces he did in 1912 named Nudes and Shepherds.