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Franz Marc |
Franz Marc was concerned with the need for harmony and union with nature. Believing that animals achieved this harmony more successfully than human beings, he used them for the subject matter of his paintings. Early in his career he painted graceful and lyrical horses, cows, and deer inhabiting beautiful and peaceful landscapes. The scenes were painted with bright pure colors and filled with light.
By 1913, however, Marc sensed the impending disaster of world events. The Wolves (Balkan War) is a personal allegory of the 1912-13 war that ultimately led to World War I. He no longer used peaceful and gentle animals like horses and deer; instead, he presents a pack of wolves. Three approach from the right, while a fourth either turns to fight them or to escape the flames that reflect red on its body. The wolf in the middle ground is either asleep or dead, and the one in the distance looks menacingly beyond the edge of the painting to something viewers can only imagine.
The landscape itself is in turmoil. Diagonal lines and harsh angles, along with the dark and dramatic color scheme, create a violent and dangerous setting. Green flames burn in the foreground and purple clouds of smoke, perhaps from explosions, are seen in the distance. The only symbol of beauty and peace—the pink flowers in the lower right-hand corner—are dying.
Marc himself was called to World War I and sent to the front. The great loss of life hurt him greatly, including the many animals that were killed in the war. He wrote to his wife from the battlefield about a painting similar to The Wolves: "it is artistically logical to paint such pictures before a war—but not as stupid reminiscences afterwards, for we must paint constructive pictures denoting the future." This reflects his orientation towards the future and gives The Wolves the function of a warning. Marc was killed at Verdun, France, in 1916.
— Mariann Smith