Marc, Franz (1880-1916), German painter, who was one of the leading members of the expressionist Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) group. He was born in Munich. Marc is best known for his paintings of animals—particularly horses and deer—in which he attempted to express his mystical veneration of nature. In works such as Blue Horses (1911, Walker Art Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota), he used stylized lines and curves and brilliant unrealistic color to create and heighten the sense of nature idealized. After 1913, in response to cubism and futurism, he turned to abstraction, creating moods of clashing, discordant uncertainty. He was killed in action during World War I.