Blue Horse I

Franz Marc

1911 · Oil on canvas · Lenbachhaus, Munich

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.

Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

Blue Horse I

Cows, Red, Green, Yellow

Deer in a Monastery Garden

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

Free shipping worldwide · arrives in 4–9 business days

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

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About this work

Artist: Franz Marc (1880–1916)
Year: 1911
Medium: Oil on canvas
Original size: 112 × 84.5 cm
Collection: Lenbachhaus, Munich
Movement: Expressionism

A young blue horse stands facing the viewer with its head tilted to one side, its body modelled in light blue with white highlights and its mane and hooves in dark navy, against hills of red, violet, yellow and green under a blue sky. The colours are not those of nature but carry meaning: in Marc's colour theory, set out in a letter to August Macke in 1910, blue stood for the masculine and spiritual, yellow for the gentle and feminine, and red for heavy, brutal matter. He painted it in 1911, the year he and Kandinsky formed the Blue Rider, working up a postcard-sized pencil sketch of a young horse in a mountain landscape. The painting belonged to the Berlin collector Bernhard Koehler, Marc's patron, and came to the Lenbachhaus in Munich from the Bernhard Koehler Foundation in 1965.

This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.

Where it works

A blue foal against hills of red, violet, yellow and green, for a child's room, nursery or playroom at 24×36 in natural wood. A white, sky blue or soft yellow wall; it pairs with The Tiger.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Exhibition poster of a Expressionism painting
Era: 20th century (1911)
Orientation: Portrait
Palette: cream & beige
Mood: classic
Rooms: nursery, kids room, living room, dining room, dorm room
Good gift for: housewarming, art lovers

Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.

Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.

Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).

Details & materials

• Exhibition poster — original, drawn in-house • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or natural wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The exhibition-poster edition sets the complete image above typography designed in-house.

Is Blue Horse I in the public domain?

Yes. Franz Marc (1880–1916) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by Lenbachhaus.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or natural wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was Blue Horse I painted, and in what medium?

Blue Horse I dates from 1911 and was made in oil on canvas; the original measures 112 × 84.5 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For Blue Horse I we'd choose 24×36.

About this design

A museum-exhibition poster of Franz Marc's Blue Horse I — a young blue horse standing in a landscape of red, yellow and green hills — shown whole and uncropped beneath gallery typography. Franz Marc: Animals in Colour, styled as a blockbuster exhibition print. A gallery-style exhibition poster: a celebrated public-domain artwork shown whole and uncropped beneath original exhibition typography set in-house — printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or natural wood. Part of the Madten Exhibition Posters Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

Buy with confidence

The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

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