Horses Resting (Ruhende Pferde)

Horses Resting (Ruhende Pferde) by Franz Marc is a significant woodcut print created in 1911, capturing the artist’s characteristic devotion to animal subjects as embodiments of natural purity. Executed during the crucial developmental phase of German Expressionism, this work predates Marc’s most intensive engagement with color abstraction and instead focuses on the powerful formal qualities afforded by the print medium.

The woodcut technique inherently necessitates simplification, forcing Marc to distill the forms of the resting horses into strong, dynamic outlines and deeply carved textural areas. Unlike the colorful, Cubist-influenced paintings he was producing concurrently, this print relies on the stark contrast between black ink and negative white space to convey structure and mood. The German tradition of graphic arts was undergoing a renaissance at the time, and Marc, along with other Expressionists, embraced woodcuts for their raw, immediate intensity, which aligned perfectly with the movement’s aesthetic goals. This piece is less concerned with realistic anatomy than with rendering the inner life and quiet energy of the creatures.

Created in 1911, the print exemplifies the radical aesthetic shift occurring in central European art as artists moved toward non-representational forms. Marc, a key co-founder of the Der Blaue Reiter group, was interested in using abstraction to express spiritual and philosophical truths about the world. Horses Resting reveals his exploration of this path, achieving a powerful composition through the rhythm of carved lines rather than pigment. The enduring quality and widespread appeal of these early Expressionist prints have made them central to discussions of early modernism. This influential piece is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, underscoring its historical importance.