So, Rhubarb, what do you make of comments such as the one I paste from Britannica:

"FRANZ MARC: "(1880-1916) German painter.

His early works were academic, but exposure to Impressionism and Jugendstil lightened his style, and in 1911, with Vassily Kandinsky and other abstract painters, he became a founding member of the Blaue Reiter group. He believed that spiritual essence is best revealed through abstractionand was passionately interested in the art of primitive peoples, children, and the mentally ill. His own work consisted primarily of animal studies, since he believed nonhuman forms of life to be the most expressive manifestation of the vital force of nature. He was killed in action in World War I."