Utopian Nature in Kirchner and Marc's Bather Paintings

Introduction: Two Utopian Visions

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Bathers Beneath Trees and Franz Marc's Bathing Girls are paintings of the same subject: three women in nature preparing to bathe or swim. Both are utopian visions of what each artist felt was ideal. The utopian character of both works is visible in an idealistic notion of freedom and in each artist's personal response to the natural world. Freedom is expressed through the comfortable presence of the nude figures, while the use of color in the natural setting reflects each artist's perception of utopian existence. German Expressionism, the movement to which both artists belonged, placed great emphasis on emotional intensity and subjective vision — qualities that shape each painting's distinctive atmosphere.

Kirchner's 'Bathers Beneath Trees': Darkness and Nurture

Bathers Beneath Trees is replete with the colors of an island paradise — the utopian vision Kirchner held most dear. The tall trees reach to the top of the canvas and are rendered in deep greens, while the tree trunks advance visually through the use of yellow set against a blue-green skyscape. The only blue in the painting appears at the horizon and in part of the sky. That horizon is rendered in a deep royal blue reminiscent of an image of Earth seen from space. The sky is filled with a lighter blue mixed with dark blue and a medium green. The foliage at the bottom of the picture carries forward the green of the treetops, and the color of the women's skin provides the key contrast.

Two of the women are standing — one in three-quarter profile and the other facing the viewer directly. The woman slightly behind has a smile on her face, and both appear to be walking along a path, perhaps toward the water. The third woman sits in a somewhat awkward position, facing the path or at least the feet of the other two. The foliage is dark green and outlined in black, giving it a sense of depth and darkness that brings to mind the word fecund.

Nature in this painting has the warm appeal of a mother's soothing embrace or a nurturing womb. There is no fear, nor any worry — only a sense of calm contentment that envelops all who come to partake.

Marc's 'Bathing Girls': Light and Merriment

Franz Marc's Bathing Girls is as filled with light and merriment as Kirchner's painting is dense with greenery. The trees in Marc's work bend and sway with a feeling of playful energy, while the three bathers stand and move around a rock painted in white with shadow and greenery. The yellow sky and background swirl around the women and lift the arms of the trees in a manner that echoes one bather's gesture of arranging her hair. The women's hair is the color of corn husks two days before harvest, and this same light auburn or orange-tinged brown is repeated in the rocks beneath their feet. The blue of sky and water enlivens the painting while lending stability as the only truly vertical element in the composition.

The tree on the left, beside the woman managing her hair, appears to embrace the rock on which it grows. The nudes are rendered in simple line and shadow: one standing, one bending over, and one sitting on the rock in the foreground. Each is absorbed in her own activity and presents a different view of the bathing process. All convey confidence in their posture and stance — the standing woman has one foot on the rock, the sitting woman dangles one leg in the water, and the bending woman looks toward the background so that her face is turned away from the viewer. Franz Marc's nature is alive with the joy of living, happily joining those who have come to frolic in the sun and cool their feet in the water.

Conclusion: Nature as Utopian Foundation

The representation of nature in Bathers Beneath Trees by Kirchner and Bathing Girls by Marc indicates that the two artists held different views on what might constitute utopia. Kirchner sought a sense of security and abundant growth, perhaps even a place of nurturing calm, well away from the relative chaos of society. Franz Marc, on the other hand, perceives utopia as having a sense of adventure and fun, where nature joins with humanity to provide a place of beauty and freedom from worry. For both, nature specifically provides a foundation for the conceptualization and integration of spirit and idealistic beliefs in community.

Nature is empirical as well as spiritual. It possesses an objective status that bridges the empirical and the sacred, or divine. It fulfills different purposes for each artist, but remains the core of their concept of utopia.