Several paintings by Adolf Hitler, created between 1904 and 1925, were sold last week by the Nuremberg based Weidler auction house, which has gained a reputation for selling Hitler’s art, DW reported. Weidler insists it remained an impartial facilitator throughout the process and that any criticism for trading in Hitler’s paintings should be directed at the sellers rather than the auction house. In other words, they know so many Nazis, so why not do business with them?
In the early 20th century, after the first big war and before starting the sequel, Adolf Hitler lived in Vienna, where he enjoyed a bohemian lifestyle, and sold his watercolor pictures on the street. He was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and was deep in poverty—and then he began his next gig, unfortunately.
The auctioneers disclosed that the paintings and drawings by Hitler had sold for about $45,000. In 2015, works by the Nazi dictator sold for a total of $447,000. The most expensive item of the 2015 lot, a painting of Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Germany, was reportedly sold to a bidder in China for $112,000.
It should be noted that WW2 was fought not by one, but by two really bad amateur painters. And Winston Churchill’s work has fared much better than his foe’s. Back in 2014, “The Goldfish Pool at Chartwell,” showing the garden pond where Sir Winston used to feed fish “whose descendants still swim there today,” sold for $2.8 million.
A mass murderer just can’t catch a break.