London, Feb. 1 (BNA): A rare painting by German expressionist Franz Marc – which was returned last year from a museum to the descendants of a Jewish collector who escaped the Nazis – is expected to set a new world record for the artist when it is auctioned next month.
The Foxes (Die Füchse), which features two brightly colored interlocking foxes, is expected to fetch around 35 million pounds ($47 million) when it goes on sale at Christie’s in London on March 1.
“It will be a wonderful moment for the art world because important Franz Marc portraits are so rare,” said Josie Belkanen, Christie’s global head while exhibiting the artwork.
A prominent figure in the German Expressionist movement, Mark was born in Munich in 1880 and died in World War I at the Battle of Verdun at just 36 years old. His short career means that his body of work is small and that very few of his paintings, especially hands.
The Foxes was purchased in 1928 by German-Jewish art collector Kurt Grauy, who according to Christie was forced to sell it to help his family survive and escape Nazi Germany. The painting was later given to the Kunstpalast Museum in Düsseldorf.
“The picture was returned to the family last year after a long process, and they have already made a decision that when it is recovered, it will be put on the open market so the next great collector has a chance to own it,” Belkanen said.
Mark painted “only 45 paintings in 1913, four of which are in private hands. This is a masterpiece that has been on display in a museum in Germany since 1962, so it’s really a moment that many generations of collectors have been waiting for,” Belkanen said.
HF