Two Deer Lying Down 1912

Editor: Here we have "Two Deer Lying Down," a vibrant pastel and coloured-pencil drawing on paper by Franz Marc, created in 1912. What immediately strikes me is the use of color; it feels symbolic, almost jarring in its departure from naturalism. How should we interpret these bold choices? Curator: Ah, yes. A window into Marc's soul, I think! Imagine the world through an animal's eyes – would it be in the drab, expected tones of academic realism? I suspect not. Marc was chasing something deeper, a vibrant, pulsing essence beneath the surface of things. Do you feel that almost spiritual striving here? That yearning for connection beyond the visual? The shapes aren’t literally deer, they’re FEELINGS of deer. Editor: Definitely, now that you point it out. So the colors…red for one deer, yellow for another. Do you think it relates to Marc's color symbolism within the Blue Rider group? Curator: Precisely! Think of Kandinsky, his friend. Blue for spirituality, yellow for joy…but tinged with unease, a restless energy. Perhaps the red suggests passion, vitality, but also a hint of danger in the woods? He aimed, I think, to unleash emotions through color – bypassing rational thought entirely! Is the overall effect serene, do you think? Editor: Not entirely serene, no. There's a nervous energy in the lines, almost jagged in places. Curator: And look how the landscape interacts! Bold geometries rather than gentle rolling hills. To me, it feels less about the animals *in* the landscape, and more like the animals *as* the landscape…as forces within a greater whole. What do you think about that compositional harmony? Or perhaps, disharmony. Editor: I hadn’t considered that, that the deer *are* the landscape. It definitely changes how I see the picture, makes me think about interconnectedness, especially when we consider his interest in pantheism at the time... It seems the drawing offers us access into Marc’s profound philosophical pondering of the natural world. Curator: Exactly. And that's the real magic, isn’t it? That a few coloured pencils on paper can spark such grand, universal questions. Marc’s "Two Deer" takes us way beyond cute forest creatures. I feel moved beyond language, myself!