Add Hitler to your collection

by Katrina Kuntz

After being in a suitcase in a Belgian attic for nearly 70 years, 21 watercolors and sketches by Adolf Hitler will go to auction at Jefferys in Lostwhithiel, England, later this month. Produced between 1916 and 1918 when Hitler was a young corporal in the First World War, the small works are estimated to bring in nearly $240,000.

While the date of the paper matches the period and the works reflect Hitler’s rustic style and often times a distinctive signature, Jefferys will continue to investigate their authenticity. Auction manager Ian Morris told the Sunday Telegraph, “The scenes have been pinpointed to within a [15-mile] radius of where Hitler was stationed in France during the war.”

In the past, many auction houses have been loath to handle such stigmatized work. Hitler, who was rejected from Vienna’s Academy of Arts, was both a prolific artist and Nazi leader. “He wasn’t a great artist but the interest is the man rather than the paintings,” Morris said.

MARCH 2006