EUR: Hitler paintings go under the hammer in Germany: report
17 Apr 2009 12:22 AM
BERLIN, April 16 AFP - Two signed watercolours by Adolf Hitler are set to be sold later this month at auction in Nuremberg in southern Germany, scene of the Nazi war crimes trials, a local newspaper reports.
The two paintings, entitled "Farmstead" and "Farm Buildings On The River", date from 1914 and would go under the hammer on April 25, the daily Nurnberger Abendzeitung said on Thursday.
The bidding was due to start at 3,500 euros ($A6,355), according to a catalogue published by the Weidler auction house, which is putting the works up for sale.
Three years ago, the same auction house sold a Hitler painting for 11,000 euros ($A19,975) but some works have fetched much higher sums. In 2006, 21 works sold in Britain for STG118,000 ($A242,820).
As a young man, Hitler had pretensions as an artist, applying to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts.
However, he failed to gain a place at the academy and was told his drawings showed a lack of talent.
He was advised to study architecture instead but refused to shelve his artistic ambitions, making money in his twenties by copying scenes from postcards and selling the results to tourists.
Thirteen Hitler watercolours, including an apparent self-portrait, were also due to be auctioned in the British town of Ludlow on April 23.
