Photo: “The Old City Hall” painted by Adolf Hitler at an auction house in Nuremberg, Germany
Credit: AP Photo/Michael Probst/Times of Israel
In Berlin, Germany, a variety of Hitler’s ‘mediocre’ watercolor paintings and drawings were held at auction and sold for quite competitive prices.
Private buyers came from Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, France and all over the world to bid for the Nazi leader’s works. However, it seems the investors denied interest in the political significance of the paintings (or the painter himself).
Kathrin Weidler, the Berlin auctioneer claimed in a statement to DPA that “[t]hese collectors are not specialized in works by this particular painter but rather have a general interest in high-value art.”
However, one can only imagine the shocking impact of seeing the famous dictator’s signature in the bottom corner. The ‘A. Hitler’ stamp of authenticity seems to rebuke any possible apolitical stance.
A rendition of King Ludwig II’s Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria was of the most successful, selling for 100,000 euros to a Chinese investor.
Another still-life painting of some carnations sold for 73,000 euros.
The date of the paintings and drawings for sale ranged from 1904 to 1922, throughout which Hitler was an active artist. However he was rejected from the Vienna Academy of Art and his interest in art was relegated to mere pastime.
Earlier in November of 2014, another one of Hitler’s paintings was sold at auction in Berlin.