in the early 20th century, Expressionism, the avant-garde movement  -expressed by the two groups Die Brüke in Dresden and Der Blaue Reiter in Munich – became popular in Germany. The latter emphasized the spiritual aspects of form and colour, to which a particular emotional meaning was attributed, favouring blue as a creative element, as opposed to the material to be shaped, expressed in primary colours. In harmony with nature, Marc Franz saw a metaphor of purity and innocence in animals and through these the artist implements the process defined animalization of art. Here the world is not defined objectively, but how the artist sees the animal and how the animal perceives the world itself.

By Marc Franz (1880-1916) the three stamps depict:

€ 1.10 Playing weasels (1911), Private Collection.
©2021. Christie’s Images, London/Scala, Florence.

€ 2.70 Blue Horse I. (1911), Stædtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich.
©2021. Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Scala, Florence.

€ 3.60 The Tower of Blue Horses (1913), Private Collection.
©2021. Album/Scala, Florence.