Few people expected it to happen so quickly. No sooner has a German museum returned a painting by German expressionist Franz Marc to the heirs of its original Jewish owner than it has already gone under the hammer at Christie's auction house. The auction is scheduled for March 1.

More precisely, it is about the painting Die Füchse, which was created in 1913. The estimated proceeds are 35 million pounds, which is significantly higher than the previous auction record of Franz Marc of 24.2 million dollars. The previous record was achieved at the auction of Weidende Pferde III of 1910 at Sotheby's. The fact that a record can be expected again on March 1 is due to the fact that Franz Marc's work is relatively small. In addition, most of his works are in museums and only a few in private hands.

The original owner of the painting Die Füchse was a Jewish banker named Kurt Grawi. He bought it in a store in 1928. Grawi survived imprisonment in a German concentration camp. He fled to Chile. In order to meet the costs of fleeing to Chile, he was forced to sell the painting. He did so in New York. In 2015, Grawi's heirs had filed an application to regain possession of the painting. A years-long dispute ensued. The opposing side argued that the painting had not been sold under duress. However, in March 2021, a German commission recommended that the painting be returned. The return took place on January 11.