Hitler paintings for sale

2006-01-29 14:28

London - Twenty-one watercolours and sketches by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler are to be auctioned in Britain after 70 years in a suitcase in a Belgian attic, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.

The collection was apparently produced between 1916 and 1918 when the young Hitler was a corporal during the Great War.

The works are to be auctioned at Jefferys in Lostwithiel, southwest England, and are expected to fetch up to £100 000, the British weekly reported.

Among the watercolour landscapes are one of a church on the edge of town and another a hastily-erected barracks in pastel shades. They show little trace of the war raging around the scenes.

They carry the hallmarks of Hitler's previously seen art work and some carry a distinctive signature. They were kept in an attic close to where Hitler served near the French border.

While the paper dates from the right age, Jefferys is checking their authenticity before the auction in March.

"The scenes have been pinpointed to within a 24km radius of where Hitler was stationed in France during the war," said auction manager Ian Morris.

"He wasn't a great artist but the interest is in the man rather than the paintings."

The smallest paintings, postcard size, are expected to fetch around £2 000 each while the larger ones, 20cm by 25cm, could fetch £4 000 each.

- AFP