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 Red Deer II
Red deer overlap within a blue-green landscape in Franz Marc's Red Deer II (Rote Rehe II). Their warm bodies emerge from broad cool shapes, while a tall curved neck and a lower head lead the eye through the group. Marc painted the work in 1912. The Bavarian State Painting Collections hold it as inventory 8923 and record the medium as oil on canvas. The numeral belongs to the collection title: this is a specific painting, not a generic label for all of Marc's red deer. [1]
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The canvas measures 70 × 100 cm. Red-brown bodies fill much of its width, but Marc sets them among strong blue, green and white passages. One neck arches across the upper centre; another head faces left. Rounded hills and clouds repeat the animals' curves. The picture can be read as a group of creatures in a setting and as a pattern in which their bodies help make the setting's rhythm. Neither view cancels the other. [1]
Marc had already explored deer in very different ways. Deer at Dusk of 1909 keeps pale animals relatively distinct in a grassy field. Deer in the Snow II of 1911 draws animals and snowy ground into shared curves. Red Deer II pushes that connection through warm bodies and a cool, rolling landscape. The three identified objects let a reader follow changes in form without assuming that every deer picture illustrates one unchanging idea. [2] [3] [1]
The Bavarian State Painting Collections record a 1917 gift from Annette von Eckardt, soon after Marc's death. The record currently lists the picture as not displayed. These collection facts help distinguish this Munich canvas from other deer works and reproductions under similar English titles. Look at how the pale outlines keep the red animals apart even as their backs blend into the landscape's larger curves. [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
Warm deer overlap against blue and green landscape shapes.
Reader Insights
Observation
How do the raised neck and lowered head lead your eye?
Comparison
How does Red Deer II differ from the earlier Red Deer I?
Interpretation
Where do the animals become part of the landscape’s pattern?
Join the Conversation
Which detail changed the way you saw this work? Share a close observation or a comparison with another Marc picture.
References
- Bavarian State Painting Collections, Rote Rehe II. View source.
- Lenbachhaus, Deer at Dusk. View source.
- Lenbachhaus, Deer in the Snow II. 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, Rote Rehe II, 1912, oil on canvas. Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich, 8923. Museum image resized without crop or colour change; displayed derivative CC BY-SA 4.0. Object record.
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