President and Fellows of Harvard College

© President and Fellows of Harvard College
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© President and Fellows of Harvard College
Gallery Text
In 1911, deep in discussions with other members of the
expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter and preoccupied
with questions of color, Marc began work on Grazing
Horses IV. Wishing to give form to inner experience and
to free himself from formal constraints imposed by the
outside world, he aimed to detach color from its
descriptive function and assigned each primary color a
specific symbolic value. As this painting’s numeric title
suggests, Marc returned repeatedly to the horse as a
subject. He became well known for his preoccupation
with animals, seeing them as the embodiment of a
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better, purer world, the bringers of spiritual renewal to
Western culture.
Grazing Horses IV became the artist’s first work to
enter a museum collection, the same year it was made.
Like Heckel’s triptych and Kirchner’s self-portrait
nearby, the painting first belonged to the Folkwang
Museum in Hagen (later in Essen), which was at the
vanguard of contemporary art collecting in Germany at
the time. The painting was removed from the collection
in 1937 as part of the National Socialist campaign to rid
German museums of “degenerate art.”
Identification and Creation
Object Number
2014.301
People
Franz Marc, German (Munich, Germany 1880 - 1916
Verdun, France)
Title
Grazing Horses IV (The Red Horses)
Other Titles
Original Language Title: Weidende Pferde IV (Die Roten
Pferde)
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
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1911
Culture
German
Physical Descriptions
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
121 x 183 cm (47 5/8 x 72 1/16 in.)
framed: 136.5 x 198.1 x 5.1 cm (53 3/4 x 78 x 2 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
gallery label: t.l. stretcher (verso), paper (torn), ink,
printed, English: Three Red Horses, 1911, Franz Marc,
oil, no. 2431, owner Mr...
exhibition label: t.l. stretcher (verso), paper, ink,
printed, English: Loan label: 34 55, Geier, 120 x 183
inscription: t.l stretcher (verso), wite chalk, handwritten:
K87
stamp: t.c. canvas (verso), ink, German: Museum
Folkwang
label: t.c. stretcher (verso), paper, ink, printed, Italian:
Comune di Firenze, XXVII Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Mostra dell’Espressionismo; Provenance: Paul E. Geier,
Roma; Autore: Franz Marc; Titolo: Rote Pferde; Cassa:
149
exhibition label: t.c. stretcher (verso), paper, ink,
printed, German: Haus der Kunst München, Entartete
Kunst, 18.10-16.12.1962, Marc, Die Roten Pferde, 1911,
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Paul E. Geier, Rom, öl/Lwd. 121 x 183
label: t.c. stretcher (verso), paper, graphite(?),
handwritten: L55.74 Franz Marc
label: t.r. stretcher (verso), paper, ink, print, printed,
typed, English: S.E. no. 2656 [#s typed], Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston, Spec. Loan Exhibition of European
Masters [typed]
label: t.r. stretcher (verso), paper, ink, printed, English:
The Red Horses, Franz Marc, Mr. & Mrs. Paul E. Geier,
2301 Grandview Avenue, Cinncinati, OH
label: t.r. stretcher (verso), paper, ink, printed,
handwritten, typed, Italian: Flli L & R Piconi, Imballatori
di Oggetti d’Arte, Roma. N [typed] 0.1 [handwritten]
stamp: t.r. canvas (verso), ink, German: Museum
Folkwang Essen
stamp: c.r. stretcher (verso), ink: [circular shape;
unreadable]
stamp: c.r. stretcher (verso), ink: [diamond-shaped
stamp; unreadable except for] Roma
stamp: center canvas (verso), ink: [difficult to read]
inscription: center stretcher (verso), blue crayon,
handwritten: CNM 12 [12 underlined]
inscription: center stretcher (verso), white chalk,
handwritten: K87[?]
label: center stretcher (verso), paper (torn), ink, printed,
German: Knauer[...] 7716 [...]st-Abteilung
label: c.l. stretcher (verso), paper, ink, printed:
Cinncinnati Art Museum, 1983-97 loan
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stamp: c.l. canvas (verso), ink, Italian: Dogana di
Brennero Sezione Ferrovia
stamp: l.c. canvas, ink, Italian: Dogana di Brennero
Sezione Ferrovia
stamp: t.l. canvas (verso), ink, Italian: Dogana di
Brennero Sezione Ferrovia
stamp: t.l.canvas (verso), ink: [circular-shape;
unreadable]
stamp: t.l. canvas (verso), ink: [diamond-shaped;
unreadable]
inscription: l.l. stretcher (verso), red crayon,
handwritten, German: Herrn Marc
inscription: l.l. stretcher (verso), white chalk,
handwritten: K87
stamp: l.c. stretcher (verso), ink, German: Museum
Folkwang Essen
stamp: t.l.stretcher (verso), ink, German: Museum
Folkwang Essen
label: t.l. frame (verso), paper, ink, red crayon, printed,
handwritten: Printed: K.V.H.; handwritten in red crayon
through label: x
label: t.l. frame (verso), paper, ink, red crayon, printed,
handwritten: Stamped: av Knauer, 327; handwritten in
red crayon through label: x
label: t.r. frame (verso), paper, ink, graphite(?), printed,
handwritten: Handwritten and underlined twice: P.E.G.;
printed: 3711
label: t.r. frame (verso), paper, ink, printed,
handwritten, English: To: Folkwang Museum Essen
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[handwritten]
inscription: t.r. frame (verso), blue crayon, handwritten:
Obscured inscription [51cm long]
inscription: l.c. frame (verso), graphite(?), handwritten:
Case #[...]
inscription: l.c. frame (verso), graphite(?), handwritten:
[obscured handwriting]
Provenance
The artist, 1911, sold; to the Folkwang Museum (Hagen,
later Essen, Germany, 1911-1937); removed from the
collection by the National Socialist (Nazi)
authorities,1937, consigned; to [Theodor Fischer
Gallery, Lucerne, Switzerland, for sale June 30, 1939,
lot 87;] sold [through Steinmeyer] to Paul E. Geier
(1939-1981) by descent; to Gabriele Geier, (1981-2012);
Estate of Gabriele Geier (2012-2014) bequest; to the
Busch-Reisinger Museum, 2014.
NOTE:
See Barron, et. al. for information on Steinmeyer, p.
146. n.21.
This painting was on loan to the Busch-Reisinger
Museum from 1991-2014.
Acquisition and Rights
Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum,
Bequest in memory of Paul E. and Gabriele B. Geier
Accession Year
2014
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Object Number
2014.301
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
[email protected]
Publication History
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Modern German Painting and
Sculpture, exh. cat., ed. Museum of Modern Art, New
York, W. W. Norton & Company (New York, New York,
1931), p. 29, cat. no. 55, b/w ill. no. 55
Franz Marc , brochure, Buchholz Gallery (New York,
1940), p. 1, cat. no. 3, ill.
Georg Ehrhart, Franz Marc oder De abstrakte kunst,
Reclam-Verlag (Stuttgart, 1949), pp. 16-17, ill.
Peter Selz, German Expressionist Painting, University
of California Press (Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA,
1957), pp. 202, 248, plate 80, ill.
Perry T. Rathbone, European Masters of Our Time, exh.
cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston, MA, 1957),
p. 22, fig. 33, ill. (b/w)
Klaus Lankheit, Franz Marc: Katalog der Werke, Verlag
M. DuMont Schauberg (Cologne, 1970), p. 43, no. 131,
ill.
Frank Nicolaus, Als Hitlers Kunst-Schergen kamen, Art
(Hamburg, 1987), October, 1987, pp. 77-85, p. 77, ill.
(color)
Jan Tschichold, Die Neue Typographie: Ein Handbuch
fur Zeitgemass Schaffende, Verlag Brinkmann & Bose
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(Berlin, 1987), p. 36, ill.
Mark Rosenthal, Franz Marc , Prestel (Munich, 1989), fig.
14, ill.
Horst G. Ludwig, Vom Blauen Reiter zu Frisch
gestrichen, Hugendubel (Munich, 1997), p. 65-66, fig.
55, ill.
Anke Schlecht, Art Compass: Franz Marc , brochure,
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (Stuttgart, 2000), p. 7, ill. (color)
Christian von Holst, Franz Marc Horses, exh. cat., Hatje
Cantz (Stuttgart, Germany, 2000), Cover, 11, 34, 84-85,
ill. (color)
Mark Abbe, "Walker celebrates 'Horses' of a different
color", Star Tribune (Minneapolis, 2001), April 8, 2001,
pp. F1, F18, p. F18, ill. (color)
Helmut Meyer and Gudrun Meyer, Pferde anders
aufgezäumt: Streifzüge durch die Natur- und
Kinstgeschichte, Schluetersche GmbH & Co. KG
(Hannover, Germany, 2002), p. 94-95 / fig. 22
Peter Nisbet and Joseph Koerner, The Busch-Reisinger
Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, ed. Peter
Nisbet, Harvard University Art Museums and Scala
Publishers Ltd. (Cambridge, MA and London, England,
2007), p. 6
Stephan Wolohojian, ed., Harvard Art Museum/
Handbook, Harvard Art Museum (Cambridge, MA,
2008), p. 296, ill.
Martin Bailey, "'Degenerate' art reunited: Folkwang
rehangs paintings that made Hitler see red", The Art
Newspaper (London, England, 2010), No. 212, p. 15, p.
15, ill. (color)
"Das schonste Museum der Welt" Museum Folkwang
bis 1933 , exh. cat., Steidl and Edition Folkwang (Essen,
2010), pp. 100-101, 352, 361, fig. 69, ill. (color)
Gina Thomas, "Museum Folkwang", Burlington
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Magazine (London, England, 2010), Vol. CLII, No. 1289,
pp. 566-567, p. 566, fig. 67
Seine Augen trinken alles: Max Ernst und die Zeit um
den Ersten Weltkreig, exh. cat., Max Ernst Museum
Bruhl des LVR (Bruhl, Germany, 2014), p. 44, fig. 3, ill.
(color)
A Decade of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions by the
Harvard University Art Museums, exh. cat., Harvard
University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, Spring
2000), p. 108, ill. (color)
Exhibition History
Kollektion Franz Marc , Moderne Galerie Thannhauser,
05/01/1911 - 05/31/1911
Franz Marc Gedachtnis-Ausstellung, Munchner Neue
Sezession, 01/01/1916 - 12/31/1916
Gedachtnis-Ausstellung Franz Marc , Nationalgalerie
Berlin, 01/01/1922 - 12/31/1922
Gemalde und Plastiken moderner Meister aus
deutchen Museen, Galerie Fischer, 01/01/1939 12/31/1939
Franz Marc , Buchholz Gallery, 11/11/1940 - 12/07/1940
Artists of the Blaue Reiter: Exhibition of Painting and
Graphic Works, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 01/21/1955 02/24/1955
European Masters of Our Time, Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, Boston, 10/10/1957 - 11/17/1957
Franz Marc Gemalde, Gouachen, Zeichnungen,
Skulpturen, Kunstverein Hamburg, 11/09/1963 01/05/1964
A Decade of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions from the
Busch-Reisinger Museum, Central and Northern Art
and Design from 1880 to the Present, Harvard
University Art Museums, Busch-Reisinger Museum,
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04/19/2000 - 07/09/2000
Franz Marc , Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart,
05/27/2000 - 09/10/2000
Franz Marc and the Blue Rider, Walker Art Center,
Minneapolis, 04/08/2001 - 07/15/2001
Retrospective exhibition of the work of Franz Marc
(1880-1916), Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus,
Munich, 09/17/2005 - 01/08/2006
Re-View: S427 Impressionist & Postimpressionist Art,
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum,
Cambridge, 08/02/2008 - 06/18/2011
"The Most Beautiful Museum in the World" Museum
Folkwang until 1933 , Museum Folkwang Essen, Essen,
03/20/2010 - 07/25/2010
Verification Level
3 - Good. Object is well described and information is
vetted
Generated on April 22, 2016 at 04:12pm
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