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 Monkey Frieze
Several monkeys stretch and run through a long, shallow landscape in Franz Marc's Monkey Frieze (Affenfries). The Hamburger Kunsthalle identifies the 1911 painting as oil on canvas, 75.5 × 135.5 cm; its online object reference is HK-2881. The museum's image credit names photographer Elke Walford, so that museum photograph has not been reused here. The local replacement is a separately licensed visitor photograph, credited beside the image. [1] [2]
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Watch on YouTubeMovement across the canvas
The monkeys form a loose diagonal procession from lower left to upper right. Long limbs and curling tails repeat the angles of dark branches. Green and blue planes crowd the lower part, while warm red and pale pink areas open behind the upper animal. The narrow, horizontal format makes it natural to follow one body into the next. No single monkey dominates the painting. [1]
A frieze is a stretched band of imagery, and this painting makes use of that structure without lining the animals up rigidly. Each body changes direction or angle. The tree shapes give the group a route through the picture, while their jagged edges echo the limbs. The eye moves with the animals, then doubles back to pick out the shapes that connect them.
The painting belongs to the same year as Donkey Frieze, another long animal composition. Compare the monkeys' quick, diagonal movement with the donkeys' denser side-by-side group. Marc uses repetition in both, but the rhythm is markedly different.
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
Monkeys stretch and run across the painting’s long, shallow field.
Reader Insights
Observation
Which repeated pose gives the group its rhythm?
Comparison
How does this wide format differ from The Little Monkey?
Interpretation
What happens when movement matters more than any single monkey?
Join the Conversation
Which detail changed the way you saw this work? Share a close observation or a comparison with another Marc picture.
References
- Hamburger Kunsthalle collection presentation. View source.
- museum object reference. 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, Monkey Frieze, 1911, oil on canvas. Hamburger Kunsthalle, HK-2881. Photograph by Dguendel, CC BY 4.0; resized to 1024 px, without crop or colour change. Object record.
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