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 Elephant, Horse and Cow
Elephant, Horse and Cow corresponds to Marc's Elefant, Pferd, Rind, Winter, dated about 1913–14 in the Yorck Project reproduction record. That record describes a canvas measuring 84 × 80 cm and lists a private collection, without giving a current owner or an oil-medium confirmation. Its public-domain image matches the former illustration on this page. The German title includes Winter, a word absent from this route's shorter English name; retaining it helps identify the particular work. [1]
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Watch on YouTubeFinding the three animals
The elephant is nearest to us: its long red-orange trunk curves downward in the lower middle, and broad pale planes make up its head and body. A white horse rises behind it, its dark eye and narrow face set against violet and blue. At the upper right, a reddish cow lowers its head. The three animals occupy overlapping depths, but the fields of red, cream, blue, violet and green cut across them. Following one outline often leads directly into another body or into the surrounding colour.
The near-square format intensifies that compression. No animal has a separate patch of pasture. The elephant's trunk points toward the lower edge; the horse's head and the cow's neck descend through the same crowded space. The title's winter setting is difficult to read as literal snow or weather in this reproduction. Its pale areas may suggest cold light, but the clearest subject is the way the animals are assembled within a fractured field.
This makes a useful comparison with Marc's earlier Elephant, where one animal is much easier to isolate. Here the bodies and the space around them take shape together. The date, size and collection description above follow the older Yorck/Commons record; a current institutional object record has not been located, so the page does not claim a present collection or a more exact date. [1]
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
Three animal bodies overlap inside a crowded field of colour.
Reader Insights
Observation
Which outline first lets you separate the elephant from the horse?
Comparison
How does this crowded scene differ from Marc’s earlier single Elephant?
Interpretation
Does the word “winter” change what you see in the pale areas?
Join the Conversation
Which detail changed the way you saw this work? Share a close observation or a comparison with another Marc picture.
References
- Wikimedia Commons, Yorck Project exact file. 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, Elefant, Pferd, Rind, Winter (Elephant, Horse and Cow), about 1913–14, canvas, 84 × 80 cm. Public-domain Yorck Project reproduction from Wikimedia Commons, resized without crop or colour change. Image file and rights.
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