by Tom Gurney
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on October 17, 2026
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000
Looking at Birth of the Horses
Horses overlap in a narrow, crowded field of dark lines and warm colour. Their heads and backs emerge as the eye follows the shapes through the print. Franz Marc made Birth of the Horses (Geburt der Pferde) in 1913 as a colour woodcut. The Lenbachhaus holds an impression on Japanese paper, inventory G 12717. This is an original printed work, made from carved blocks, rather than a painted canvas or a modern poster copied from one. [1]
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The museum records its sheet at 35.5 × 25.4 cm. Strong printed lines organise the bodies; red and ochre areas meet dark passages, making it necessary to find each animal among repeated curves. A colour woodcut requires decisions about where ink will land and how separate areas will register on the paper. That material process gives this animal group a different kind of energy from Marc’s oil paintings, even when it uses familiar horse forms. The print belongs with his original graphic work, not a general list of reproductions. [1] [2]
The Lenbachhaus describes marks on this particular impression: an “M” in the block, pencil annotations probably by Maria Marc beneath the image, and a round estate stamp on the reverse. Those details belong to the sheet in Munich. Other impressions may show different ink densities, paper or later marks. The museum received this one as a gift in 1960. Object-level details help distinguish an original impression from a generic digital image of the design. [1]
The title suggests an event, but the image does not read like a calm narrative scene. Bodies seem to arise from a network of printed lines. Marc made the subject feel generative through repetition and compression. Looking closely at the edges where one horse becomes another is more rewarding than assuming a single symbolic meaning for the red and black. Compare the print with Large Red Horses to see how a group of animals changes when colour, scale and surface all change. [1] [3]
Artwork Directory
This source-checked selection contains 192 identified works and print designs from the current Franz Marc research set. It is a curated selection, not a complete catalogue raisonné. Some works link to their article here; others link to a collection record. Unresolved identifications are omitted.
Discussion
Several horses emerge from the crowded colour woodcut in stages.
Reader Insights
Observation
Which head or back can you follow most easily?
Comparison
How does the carved line differ from the outlines in Large Blue Horses?
Interpretation
What does the compressed space add to the subject of birth?
Join the Conversation
Which detail changed the way you saw this work? Share a close observation or a comparison with another Marc picture.
References
- Lenbachhaus, Geburt der Pferde. View source.
- MoMA, woodcut technique. View source.
- Harvard Art Museums, Grazing Horses IV. View source.
- Related artwork image, Yellow Cow: Photograph by Dr. Alexey Yakovlev; resized without crop or colour change, CC BY-SA 2.0.
- Splash image: Franz Marc, Birth of the Horses, 1913, colour woodcut on Japanese paper. Lenbachhaus, Munich, G 12717. Image CC0 1.0. Object record.
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