Paris, being the center of the artworld at the time, was the destination point for all serious young artists and Franz Marc was no exception. He made several trips there, the first being in 1903 when he was twenty-three years old. He studied the works of artists such as Monet, van Gogh and Gauguin and was deeply inspired by the Impressionists. When he returned to Germany he started associating with Wassily Kandinsky, whom he had met at the Academy and together they formed the art group "The Blue Rider" whose other members included August Macke, Alexeji Jawlensky and Paul Klee.

For Franz Marc the group had become something like a home. He suddenly had companions with whom he could exchange his ideas about art. He developed a close friendship with Kandinsky and with August Macke. The group had a very positive effect on Marc's creativity. His artistic output nearly exploded - both in quality and in quantity.

The Munich Tannhauser gallery was supportive of the new group who had their first exhibition in 1911 to mixed reviews and two years later gave Marc his first solo exhibition in 1913. Franz continued to paint continually and went to Paris again looking for inspiration. He studied all the modern French painters and returned to Munich charged with creative ideas which he shared with his good friend Kandinsky. By 1914, following in the steps of his friend and mentor Kandinsky, who had arrived at this conclusion four years earlier, the artist had abandoned figural painting all together. Franz Marc was now involved in the advancement of abstract art and showed no signs of slowing down. His output was extraordinary but came to an abrupt halt when, in 1914, he and his good friend August Macke joined the German military when World War I broke out.