The Sheep
1913–14 · Oil on canvas · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
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About this work
- Artist
- Franz Marc (1880–1916)
- Year
- 1913–14
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 54.5 × 77 cm
- Collection
- Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
- Movement
- Expressionism
A curled white sheep lies at the centre, its body a pale green-white curve, surrounded by a whirl of prismatic forms in blue, green, red, yellow and violet that seem to rotate around it, with a jagged blue zigzag at the right. The animal is still legible but has nearly merged with the abstract structure of the landscape. Marc painted it in 1913–14, when the interpenetrating colour planes of Robert Delaunay were reshaping his own work and his pictures were moving steadily away from the animal toward pure form, as in Fighting Forms of 1914. The sheep's resting curve gives a calm centre to the movement around it, a balance he would soon abandon. It is in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A curled white sheep at the heart of a whirl of blue, green, red and violet, for a bedroom, nursery or living room at 36×24 in natural wood. A pale green, white or soft blue wall; it pairs with Deer in the Forest II.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Expressionism painting
- Era
- 20th century (1913–14)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- living room, bedroom, nursery, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 36×24. Prints at 18×12, 24×16, 36×24 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard; 36×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Sheep in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Sheep painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
