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November 14, 2020 - Droog Magazine periodical for investigative journalism

Fake Hitlers from Pennsville

to Hitler Forgery Industry index | 2020 | to Droog Magazine

No sir, Hitler painted no still lifes at all

Introduction | auction policies |

dubious auction house

Again an US based auction house is launching fake Hitlers. This time Black River Auction from Pennsville, New Jersey, is about to offer two fake Hitlers on its 'November Fine art Auction', November 15, 2020. The works are fakes, not forgeries, as they don't resemble any thought to be authentic Hitler artwork at all.

Lot 0052a: "Attrib. Adolf Hitler (German)." Start price $150; estimated at $5oo - $1,000.

Description by auctioneer: "Untitled (Floral). Watercolor on paper. 12"x 9". Signed lower right side. Some wear. Buyer's premium 28%."

Comment by Droog Magazine: Hitler never made still lifes. Not of fruit, not of flowers. Sources: Jakob Altenberg, 1936, in the Viennese police investigation into the trade in forged Hitlers originating from Reinhold Hanisch and Hitler's secretary Christa Schroeder, in her posthumously published memoirs Er war mein Chef, 1985, page 162.

Statement by Jakob Altenberg. Oberpolizeirat Dr. Spring. Bundes Polizeidirektion Wien, Sicherheitsbureau, s.B. 17105/36, November-December 1936. NSDAP Hauptarchiv NS 26/2599; Bundesarchiv Berlin.

Christa Schroeder. Er war mein Chef. Aus dem Nachlaß der Sekretärin von Adolf Hitler. Herbig, München, 1985. 400 pages. In English: Christa Schroeder. He was my chief. The memoirs of Adolf Hitler's secretary. Introduction by Roger Moorhouse. Translation by Geoffrey Brooks. Pen & Sword Books, Barnsley, 2009. 208 pages. This is an abridged version of the German original.

Lot 0176a: "Attrib. Adolf Hitler (German)." Start price $150; estimated at $5oo - $1,000

Description by auctioneer: "Untitled (Floral). Watercolor on paper. 12"x 9". Signed lower right side. Some wear. Buyer's premium 28%."

Comment by Droog Magazine: See remarks at lot 0052a. The signature is situated on the lower left corner.

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Auction policies

ALL LOTS DESCRIBED IN THIS CATALOG ARE SOLD "AS IS" EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED OTHERWISE. Our catalog descriptions for Lots are expressions of our opinion only.

Source: Terms & conditions. Black River Auction, 2020.

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Dubious auction house

At the November 2020 auction more than 500 lots are offered, all attributed to famous artists as M.C. Escher, Robert Mapplethorpe, Banksy, Keith Haring, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, all at extremely low prices. Even though the auctioneer doesn't explicitly mentions that the works are authentic, the people who buy these, will in all likelihood sell them as authentic. So, what we witness here is the bottom end of the forgery industry.

We've seen similar auctions with similar works, including one or two fake Hitlers in the past two years in Peru and the US. It seems that one gang of forgers is responsible for it.

See also: "Hitler" in Zuid-Amerika opgedoken. The Post Online, Woerden, 26-03-2019.

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