Being influenced
by futurism and orphism, Marc's paintings become more abstract
in 1913 and, a year later, are abstract color fantasies. At the
outbreak of the First World War, Marc registers as an officer
in the reserve. On September 26, his close friend August Macke
dies on the front. He is deeply moved.
On 10 August 1915, he is awarded the Iron Cross and promoted lieutenant.
In February 1916, the German Ministry for Intellectual and Educational
Affairs decides to give more artistic freedom to artists within
the military or to withdraw them from the front. Maria Marc also
gets a message in this sense, but before Franz Marc can profit
from it, he falls in the battle for Verdun, hit in the temple
by a grenade splinter on a reconnaissance ride - on a horse.
