Franz Marc was one of the key members of the German Expressionist movement. He usually painted animals, so this painting is quite the anomaly. His oeuvre is characterised by the use of bright, primary colours and his near-Cubist simplifying of forms that is reminiscent of Kandinsky and Matisse. There is a stark simplicity and a profound sense of emotion, even in this seemingly straightforward composition of orange, red and green haystacks. Marc gave emotional meaning or purpose to the colours he used, and while red generally denoted violence, these snowy mounds seem innocent – they look like a bowl of pears dusted with icing sugar. The image is unassuming, but nonetheless, these snowy peaks show the seasons changing and suggest our reluctance to change. «Make hay while the sun shines’ the old proverb goes, but in truth, time all too often escapes us and we find our haystacks covered in snow. And no one likes a soggy haystack.