Die Brücke painting condemned by Nazis as degenerate up for auction
The painting "Märzenschnee" (March Snow) by the German expressionist Max Pechstein is to be sold at auction in Munich next month, the auctioneers announced on Wednesday.
The painting was first bought during an exhibition of the Berlin Secession in 1909 by Walther Rathenau, a Jewish industrialist and politician, according to auctioneers Ketterer Kunst.
Rathenau was assassinated in June 1922, just months after being appointed foreign minister, and his family was forced to sell the painting after the Nazis came to power in 1933.
Pechstein was a member of the "Die Brücke" (The Bridge) group, whose paintings were condemned by the Nazis as "degenerate art." He used the proceeds from selling the painting to go to the seaside for the summer to dedicate himself to his work.
Following the murder of Rathenau, a passionate art collector, the painting was retained by his family, who were forced into a sale in 1936.
It is believed to have come into the possession of a German family at the end of the 1950s. They have now reached an agreement with the Rathenau heirs for the painting to be sold on June 6. It is expected to reach between €200,000 ($227,00) and €300,000 at auction.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
5 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
British translator Karen Leeder and German writer Durs Grünbein win Griffin Poetry Prize
TORONTO - British scholar Karen Leeder's translation of 'Psyche Running' by Durs Grünbein has won the Griffin Poetry Prize. They were awarded the $130,000 literary prize at a ceremony in Toronto. Leeder is a professor of German language and literature at Oxford University, and the Griffin judges praise her translation as being 'universal, lyrical, philosophical.' This is the second time a translation of work by Grünbein, who lives in Berlin, has been shortlisted for the Griffin. 'Ashes for Breakfast: Selected Poems,' translated by Michael Hoffmann, was a finalist for the International Griffin Poetry Prize in 2006, before the Canadian and global prizes were combined. Margaret Atwood also received the $25,000 Lifetime Recognition Award at the poetry reading and ceremony. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Chimpanzee rescued from troubled Oregon Coast safari park quarantining in Washington
PORTLAND, Ore. () — A chimpanzee seized from a troubled animal park along the Oregon Coast now has a new home in Washington. Cle Elum's Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest has revealed it rescued West Coast Game Park Safari's 'George' on May 15. The facility said the 21-year-old chimpanzee was the first animal removed from the site near Bandon during law enforcement's four-day operation that . Kyron's dad after 15 years: 'You're not home, we're not done' According to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, the Oregon animal park's lack of an enrichment program for George prompted one of several welfare citations it received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. One of the from October 2024 claimed the more-than-100-pound great ape 'is vulnerable when his special needs as a chimpanzee are not addressed leading to breakdown of his psychological well-being.' He is now quarantined from 15 other chimpanzees, nearly three weeks after being sedated and transported to the new facility with the help of Oregon State Police and the Oregon Humane Society. Although the Washington sanctuary isn't open to the public, staff members are updating people on George's whereabouts on . Apparently, he's an 'inquisitive' chimpanzee who loves snacks like grapes, bell peppers and protein smoothies. 'We are grateful to our supporters who have built this sanctuary from the ground up, enabling us to help chimpanzees like George in their time of need,' Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest Co-Director Diana Goodrich said in a release. 'We are delighted by the response to our updates on our blog and other social media from those who live on the Oregon Coast and have met George at the roadside zoo over the years. It's heartening to learn how many people are interested in George's future.' Uber urges Portland riders to take stance against proposed fee hikes A the chimpanzee posed for photos at a casino and appeared in a long-running German television show before being transferred to West Coast Game Park Safari in 2011. He replaced another male great ape who was , according to the Washington sanctuary. The Bandon Police Department arrested the owner of the Oregon animal park on May 27. Authorities said meth, cocaine and guns were also seized from the property. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
San Francisco Chronicle
10 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Review: Al Pacino's weird accent is the best and worst thing about ‘The Ritual'
Al Pacino loves to do accents, and it's the one thing he's not good at. For 'The Ritual,' in which he plays an exorcist, he speaks in a piping little voice, with an accent that is completely unplaceable, but which we later find out is German. It's the worst and best thing in the movie. It's the worst because it's ridiculous, but it's the best because it's both hilarious and ridiculous, and also because — and this is the kind of paradox often associated with great actors — he somehow makes his bizarre choices work. Pacino integrates the voice and accent into a distinct characterization, which, though far from ideal, has its own weird integrity. We can well imagine that, as an independent director whose previous films have never had a major release, co-screenwriter David Midell was in no position to tell Pacino, 'Lose the accent' — he might have lost Pacino. But ultimately, Midell did the right thing to let the actor have his way. Pacino plays the real-life Catholic priest, Theophilus Riesinger, a German immigrant who conducted what is believed to be the best documented exorcism in history, that of Emma Schmidt in Iowa. The movie changes some things. In real life, there were two exorcisms, separated by 16 years, and Emma was 46 when the process was completed in 1928. Here, there's just one exorcism, and Emma (Abigail Cowen) is a young woman in her 20s. Emma's got some problems. At the start of the movie, her face is blotchy, and she does a lot of writhing in bed while saying rude things in an unnaturally deep voice. A Catholic bishop decides that an exorcism needs to take place, and he orders Father Joseph Steiger (Dan Stevens) to host the big event at his church and to aid Theophilus, the exorcist, in every way possible. The second funniest thing about 'The Ritual' is the performance of Stevens, who goes through most of the movie looking completely confused. At first, you think he's thrown off by Pacino's accent. Later, we realize that Father Steiger is suffering from spiritual doubt to a degree that's almost absurd. Stevens is tasked with playing a fellow who can be in the company of a possessed woman — as she lies there growling while objects fly around the room — and walk out saying, 'I think she might be suffering from a physical ailment.' Despite moments of unintentional humor, 'The Ritual' has an appealing gravity about it, which probably derives from its adherence to the historical record. Most movies about exorcisms forget the victim and dramatize the conflict between the demons and the exorcist. But 'The Ritual' emphasizes Emma's torment and, in between exorcism sessions, shows Theophilus and the attending nuns treating her with the tenderness one might give a sick person. More than any other exorcism movie I've seen, 'The Ritual' gives you a sense that, if something like this happened, it would probably happen in exactly this way. Unfortunately, the one thing Midell can't overcome is the ultimately formulaic nature of the genre. Things start bad and get exponentially worse, but no matter what happens, we always know the ending.
