Interested in owning a work of art by Adolf Hitler?
If you are, and there are actually many interested buyers out there, Hitler’s watercolor painting of a building called “The Old Town Hall,” will be up for auction on November 22 at the Nuremberg auction house. The painting was created around 1914. “The Old Town Hall” depicts a registrar’s office in Munich, Germany.
Before becoming the leader of the Nazi Party, Hitler was a failed artist. And what does an Adolf go for nowadays? This particular painting is expected to fetch a four or five figure dollar amount. Adding to the potential cost of the piece, is its guaranteed authenticity. The lot will be sold with a certificate of authenticity from Albert Bormann, who is the head of Hitler’s private office. The opening bid will start at $3,130.
The piece is being sold by two anonymous sisters from the German state of Hesse. Their grandfather purchased it from an art gallery in 1916. According to the auctioneer, the sisters plan to donate 10% of the painting’s proceeds to a charity that helps disabled children.
This is not the first Hitler lot to go up for auction. The auction house has sold five other of the dictator’s paintings, including a piece sold in January, 2012. It was purchased by an anonymous collector in Slovakia, who spent about $40,000.
Selling and buying artwork by Hitler in Germany is legal, unless the piece contains banned Nazi symbols, like swastikas or celtic crosses. There are about 800 known pieces that still exist. Several other Hitler items have come up at auction recently, including a signed Hitler photograph of the dictator when he was a young man.
What do you think? Would you ever consider buying a piece of artwork by Adolf Hitler?