About this work
confronts the viewer immediately and on its own terms. A majestic tiger dominates the centre of the composition, surrounded by a vibrant landscape, its form rendered with great strength and energy that gives it an imposing presence.
The tiger is depicted in blazing shades of orange and yellow, set against deep greens and blues in the surrounding landscape.
The animal seems even more powerful for the block-like construction of the forms that determine its body — faceted, angular, almost geological. The composition is dynamic yet well-balanced, with complementary colours of intense reds and greens placed directly against one another.
The entire work is filled with tension, a sense of apprehension, a presentiment of sudden movement — the feeling of security and harmony Marc had projected in his earlier works is here entirely absent.
*The Tiger* was painted in March of 1912 , a pivotal year in Marc's development. That same year, Marc met Robert Delaunay, whose use of colour and Cubist method became a major influence; fascinated by Futurism and Cubism, Marc created work that grew increasingly stark, painting natural abstract forms that found spiritual value in colour.
The painting shows a clear debt to Picasso's Cubism and to Cézanne. Where Marc's horses and deer of 1911 radiate a gentle spiritual calm, the tiger marks a harder turn — the animal kingdom as a site of raw, unresolved force rather than innocent refuge. The original oil on canvas is held at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich.
As a print, *The Tiger* suits spaces with confidence and edge — a studio, a library with dark walls, a room that can absorb intensity without flinching. Marc sought to capture the spiritual purity of animals through bold, stylized forms, cultivating a dynamic Expressionist style that used rhythmic patterns of colour and line to evoke movement. The orange-yellow-green palette is electric without being decorative, and the angular geometry gives the image a structural weight that reads clearly from across a room. This is a work for the viewer who wants art that holds its ground — something that rewards a second look, and a third, each time revealing new tensions locked inside the form.
