Indersdorf by Franz Marc

Looking at Indersdorf

Franz Marc painted Indersdorf in 1904, long before the blue horses for which he is best known. The picture is held by the Lenbachhaus in Munich. It shows buildings beside the River Glonn at Markt Indersdorf, with a short bridge, a fence and their reflections in the water. A local Franz Marc walking route identifies the inn in the scene as the Gasthaus Hohenester beside the Glonner Mühle. The precise setting makes this an unusually place-specific early Marc landscape. ^{[1] [2]}

Watch: Franz Marc

Explore Marc’s blue horses, the Blue Rider circle and the move towards abstraction in English-language videos.

Franz Marc, Blue Horses and Der Blaue Reiter

The Canvas

An English-language introduction to Marc’s blue horses, animals, spirituality and the Blue Rider.

Watch on YouTube

▶01 · Marc and his horsesFranz Marc, Blue Horses and Der Blaue ReiterThe Canvas▶02 · The Blue RiderWho were the Blue Rider?Tate▶03 · Towards abstractionThe Case for AbstractionThe Art Assignment · PBS Digital Studios

Buildings, colour and water

The tall, pale front of the inn dominates the upper half of the upright canvas. Its roof and windows are described with short marks rather than sharp architectural lines. At right, the low bridge meets the riverbank. Dark rails and posts cross the middle of the picture, separating the buildings from the water. Small red and blue patches on the fence bring the strongest colour into that central band; their reflections appear as broken strokes below.

The river is more than a foreground strip. Grey, blue, cream and red marks turn the lower part of the painting into a second, shifting version of the scene above. The bright facade steadies the composition while the water interrupts its shapes. Looking between the fence and its reflection reveals how Marc organised an everyday view through colour and brushwork, without needing an animal subject. ^[3]

An early point in Marc's work

Marc had travelled to France in 1903 and encountered Impressionist painting before leaving formal study at the Munich Academy. Indersdorf belongs to the following year, when he was testing a brighter, more open way to paint observed places. It should not be read as an early sketch of his later animal symbolism: this image gives its attention to a particular building, bridge, light and moving water. The local walking route still names the mill and inn as sites associated with his 1904 view. ^{[4] [2]}