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 The Long Yellow Horse
The Long Yellow Horse (Das Lange Gelbe Pferd) dates from 1913. Sotheby’s catalogues it as oil and tempera on paper mounted on board, 61.3 × 81.4 cm. A single yellow horse stands in an unsettled landscape of buildings, hills, trees and a striped arc in the sky. The Franz Marc Museum places the picture among works shaped by Marc’s journey to South Tyrol that spring. The museum’s essay is useful context, while Sotheby’s later 2024 sale record anchors the object’s medium and recent ownership history. [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
An English-language introduction to Marc’s blue horses, animals, spirituality and the Blue Rider.
Watch on YouTubeA still horse in a moving landscape
The horse faces right, its long body occupying the middle of the picture. Its legs stand apart on bright yellow ground, while red walls and dark green forms rise behind it. The striped arc overhead bends towards the animal but never encloses it fully. Blue and violet patches interrupt the warm palette. The horse is easy to recognise; the spaces around it are less settled, with overlapping shapes that keep the eye moving. [3]
The Franz Marc Museum describes a sense of uncertainty in the empty architecture and the animal’s isolation. That is a curatorial interpretation, not a fixed code for yellow or proof that the horse literally waits for someone. What the image makes visible is a contrast between a motionless figure and a landscape broken into restless bands. [2]
Compare Blue Horse I, a lone horse made monumental by its upright pose, or Stables, where horses nearly disappear into colour planes. The Long Yellow Horse holds a recognisable animal in view while putting the surrounding world under stronger formal pressure.
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
A still horse stands before buildings, hills and a striped sky.
Reader Insights
Observation
Which surrounding shape makes the horse feel most stationary?
Comparison
How is this single horse different from the solitary Blue Horse I?
Interpretation
Does the empty architecture create calm, uncertainty or another effect for you?
Join the Conversation
Which detail changed the way you saw this work? Share a close observation or a comparison with another Marc picture.
References
- Sotheby’s object record. View source.
- Franz Marc Museum, Tyrol essay. View source.
- Commons exact reproduction. 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, Das Lange Gelbe Pferd (The Long Yellow Horse), 1913, oil and tempera on paper mounted on board, 61.3 × 81.4 cm. Public-domain reproduction from Wikimedia Commons, retained at source width. Image file and rights.
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