“Serious art has been the work of individual artists whose art has had nothing to do with style because they were not in the least connected with the style or the needs of the masses. Their work arose rather in defiance of their times.” Franz Marc, a German painter and printmaker and one of the key figures of the German Expressionist movement, was killed on March 4, 1916.
Wikipedia states: “After mobilization of the German Army during World War I, the government identified notable artists to be withdrawn from combat for their own safety. Marc was on the list but was struck in the head and killed instantly by a shell splinter during the Battle of Verdun in 1916 before orders for reassignment could reach him.”
Art Quote of the Day 
Marvellous quote
Just trying my best, ma’am!
I’ve done a lot of research about the Great War in relation to my site ( http://nlwmemorial.tripod.com/nlwmemorial/ ) and, according to letters home which were published in the local paper, all casualties were ‘killed instantly’ and they never suffered.
well now that is just so sad that Franz was killed like that – but at least they tired to get him back in the studio –
It was the German objective of the Battle of Verdun to ‘bleed France white’. After nearly a year of fighting, there were about 156,000 French dead and 143,000 German dead.