Deer in the monastery garden 1912

Franz Marc made 'Deer in the Monastery Garden' with oil paint, in a style that feels like the world is being rebuilt, colour by colour. It’s a painting that vibrates. The paint handling here is so interesting – you can see the brushstrokes, but they’re also kind of smoothed out. Look at the way he builds up the greens and blues of the landscape. It’s like he’s not just painting what he sees, but also how he feels, you know? The texture isn’t super thick, but there’s a definite layering that gives the painting depth and a kind of glow. I keep coming back to the deer. It’s like a little secret hidden in all this colour and geometry. The deer feels so gentle, almost lost, but also completely at home. There is something in the way Marc treats the subject and the process of painting which makes me think of Marsden Hartley; both of them were invested in the process of artmaking. They remind us that art doesn’t always have to make sense. It can be a feeling, an experiment, a way of seeing the world anew.