Franz Marc: The Retrospective
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Individual Artists
Franz Marc: The Retrospective Details
From Publishers Weekly Best known for his paintings of horses, German expressionist Franz Marc (1880–1916) was a painter with a self-consciously intellectual bent, neither as revolutionary as Picasso nor as lyrical as Matisse. This thorough, carefully arranged retrospective (published along with an exhibition at the Lenbachhaus in Munich) traces his development from early pastoral scenes to later cubist-inspired canvases he created while part of the Blue Rider group he founded with Wassily Kandinsky; in the process, this catalogue clarifies the motivations of this very earnest painter. Particularly useful is an essay by Barbara Eschenburg, who sheds light on Marc's interest in Darwin and Nietzsche. Eschenburg shows how Marc's animals—typically embedded in a flat, crystalline-patterned space—represent an intuitive oneness with nature that has been lost to a Western culture obsessed with the individual. Annegret Hoberg provides a handy biographical overview, and Isabelle Jansen's essay explains Marc's attention to Egyptian, Japanese and other "exotic" cultures, considered at the time to represent an unspoiled ideal. With a more complete set of reproductions (including sketches and sculptures) than Mark Lawrence's 1989 study, Franz Marc, and more affordable than the ongoing multivolume Complete Works series, this is an excellent resource for both the scholar or the general reader. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Read more Review "...more affordable than the ongoing multivolume, this is an excellent resource for both the scholar or the general reader." -- Publishers Weekly, March 2006"Substantial, elegant, and well thought-out catalog… finely conceived, affordable volume." -- Library Journal, May 2006 Read more
Reviews
It really is only 4.999 stars because it is missing in its catalogue (but included in the text as an unfortunately ill-colored illustration) one of Marc's most intriguing paintings... Donkey Frieze. No matter, it can be viewed online in its true colors. This extensive catalog of Marc's life and work is absolutely delightful. The intimate details about his life are highly enlightening, albeit there is a certain dryness in the author's writing style. Perhaps lost in translation? Regardless, this book covers his life very well.