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 In the Rain
Two people bend into a shower while a white dog runs ahead of them. Franz Marc painted In the Rain (Im Regen) in 1912. The Lenbachhaus identifies the figures as Marc and his wife Maria, and the dog as Russi. It records the work as oil on canvas, 81.7 × 106 cm, inventory G 13322. Rain is not just the subject: diagonal strokes sweep across nearly every part of the painting. [1]
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Watch on YouTubePeople, dog and rain
The woman's pale skirt and the dog's white body stand out against red and green shapes. Both people hunch under the downpour, while Russi presses forward at the lower right. Their forms break into overlapping planes, making it difficult to separate bodies from the force moving through the scene. Start with the dog's head, then trace the slanting rain back toward the couple. This is how the painting turns a moment outdoors into a pattern of motion. [1]
The museum calls the work unusual in Marc's mature practice because it brings recognisable people into an image from a period often dominated by animals. Its interpretation also relates the movement of the forms to his encounter with Italian Futurism in 1912. The picture still has a specific personal setting: according to the Lenbachhaus, the three figures recall the artist, Maria and Russi caught in heavy rain. [1]
Franz Marc, In the Rain. Two figures and a white dog stand under slanting rain.
The Lenbachhaus received the painting in 1965 as a gift from the Koehler family. Bernhard Koehler, an early supporter of Marc, probably obtained it from the artist, according to the museum's provenance record. Compare its human figures with Red Woman and the dog with Jumping Dog “Schlick”. In In the Rain, both humans and animal are caught in the same moving weather. [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
The human figures and slanting marks of rain make movement the centre of the picture.
Reader Insights
Observation
How do the diagonals of rain alter the figures’ outlines?
Comparison
What changes when Marc depicts people rather than animals in a moving landscape?
Interpretation
Where does the rain feel like weather, and where like a pictorial device?
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 object record and commentary. 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, In the Rain, 1912, oil on canvas. Lenbachhaus, Munich, G 13322. Museum image CC0 1.0. Object record.
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