The Bewitched Mill1913
Among the German Expressionists, who used strong color and exaggerated form to express emotional content, Franz Marc was unique in his empathic interest in animal life. More about this work
About this work
Among the German Expressionists, who used strong color and exaggerated form to express emotional content, Franz Marc was unique in his empathic interest in animal life. He painted this work following a sojourn to the Italian town of Merano. Its title refers to the "magical" harmony he sensed there between human life, represented by the houses and mill on the left, and nature, embodied by the lyrical region of trees and animals on the right.
Text from the Art Institute of Chicago.
What you’re looking at
Vibrantly colored geometric painting of a central white and blue waterfall with birds visible through it. A stylized red jungle cat and black wild boar drink at bottom right. Red water wheel at left, angular blue and white cityscape top at left, tree top at right.
Description from the Art Institute of Chicago.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Franz Marc
German, 1880–1916
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Art Institute of Chicago has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1931.522
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Modern Art
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
