21-05-2025
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.
