A watercolour painted by Adolf Hitler in 1914, twenty years before he rose to power, has sold at a German auction house for 130,000 Euros.
A watercolour painted by Adolf Hitler in 1914 has sold at auction for 130,000 Euros ($185,000).
Hitler, before he rose to power, attempted to be an artist and spent a number of years in Vienna, Austria. Between the years 1905 and 1920 he painted around 2000 works, according to ABC. Five other works by Hitler have been sold at auction and have been sold for between 5,000 and 80,000 at auction.
The painting, Titled Standesamt und Altes Rathaus Muenchen (Civil Registry Office and Old Town Hall of Munich), was sold by an auction house in the German city of Nuremberg.
Two German sisters, both in their 70s, were the owners of the painting as it had been in their family since 1916 when their grandfather purchased it. The original handwritten bill of sale, dated 25th September 1916, accompanies the painting. This is relatively rare for Hitler’s work and has evidently contributed to the selling price. In addition to the bill of sale, a letter claiming the provenance of the work was confirmed by Hitler’s private secretary was also included in the lot.
The two sisters have decided to donate 10% of the proceeds to a charity which helps disabled children. The painting, according to the AP, attracted buyers from four continents and went to a buyer from the Middle East.
Sales of Hitler’s art work are controversial and the director of Weider’s auction house in Nuremberg, Kathrin Weidler, has requested complaints should be addressed to the two women who chose to sell the work. Hitler wrote that his hopes of becoming an artist were crushed by repeated rejections from Vienna’s Academy of Fine Arts.
Culled from : contact music.com
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