January 1, 2021 - Droog Magazine periodical for investigative journalism

Fake Hitler painting on eBay

The 150th fake from 2020

to Hitler Forgery Industry index | 2020 | to Droog Magazine

 
Introduction | eBay policies | Hitler withdrawn



Click on image to enlarge

Late December 2020 - An American  seller from Bridgeport (Connecticut) offers on eBay an "Adolf Hitler original signed painting 1915 pre-nazi pre-WWII" for $6,000. The work is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity from the late Nazi Militaria dealer Charles E. Snyder. It is the 150th fake Hitler offered for sale in 2020.

Snyder who was known among Nazi Militaria collectors as a con artist, with a wide collection of objects with uncontrolable provenance, offered at his webshop Snyder's Treasures a great number of watercolors, oil paintings and drawings allegedly made by Hitler. All of these were however obvious forgeries and fakes. The 'Hitler' offered on eBay is just such a work: it has a fantasy signature and doesn't resemble in anything any thought to be authentic Hitler watercolors, branding it as a fake, not even a forgery.

The Snyder "Certificate of Authenticity"



Charles E. Snyder, August 4, 2014: "I certify that the following is true and accurate. This is a 9 x 11 inch Hitler art work sketch that features a town square. It displays severall well defined people. The one on the left hand corner of the work resembles Adolf Hitler in his WW one uniform. The art work is a quill pen ink signed A Hitler 1915. The condition is near excellent.

The Hitler signature and style is totally consistent with his art works of the WW one years. The current market value is $15,000."

Comment by Droog Magazine: what strikes immediately is that Snyder in this Certificate of Authenticity (CoA) didn't give any detail at all about the provenance of this work. 

About: "The Hitler signature and style is totally consistent with his art works of the WW one years." This is absolute nonsense, as the few thought to be authentic Hitler sketches from the First World War are unsigned - and the authenticity of all WW1 watercolors attributed to Hitlrers is highly questionable. When one looks at an authentic Hitler watercolor signatures from 1913-1914, his Munich period, the differences between these and the signature on the Snyder "Hitler" are obvious:

Authentic Hitler signature on 1914 watercolor "Alter Hof''. Courtesy US Army Center for Military History	Fake Hitler signature on Snyder "Hitler".

About: "The one on the left hand corner of the work resembles Adolf Hitler in his WW one uniform." Does this prove that Hitler made this work? No, not at all. Does this figure even resembles the Hitler from 1915? Hardly:

The alleged Hitler figure on the  Snyder "Hitler".	Adolf Hitler, 1915. Public domain.

So all in all: there's no proof that anything Snyder stated about this work is corroborated with any evidence at all.

Treasure trove

Snyder, like many other dealers of alleged Nazi goods, "authenticated" his merchandise through a reference book: Treasure Trove; the Looting of the Third Reich (1998), in which he shows his Nazi militaria collection and provides bogus provenance stories. The pricey book (antiquarian at around $ 200) is used by sellers of alleged Nazi militaria and memorabilia to this day to convince their customers of the authenticity of the material.

It's the same story as with the book Adolf Hitler as Maler und Zeichner (1983), published in English as Adolf Hiler the unknown artist, and also known as Price - after its financier, the American multi-millionaire and Hitler collector Billy F. Price. Compiled by art swindlers, this work contains images of 723 works attributed to Hitler - some 90% are false.

See also:

Jaap van den Born & Bart FM Droog. Knacks with fake Hitlers. The fake Adolf Hitler watercolors sold as "authentic" by Charles E. Snyder for £115,000 to Jake and Dinos Chapman, late 2007/early 2008. Droog Magazine, Eenrum. August 8, 2020.
https://www.droog-mag.nl/hitler/2008/knacks-with-fake-hitlers.pdf
Bart FM Droog. Kunstjes met valse Hitlers: shock art-project uit 2008 blijkt gebouwd op bedrog. Reporters Online, 09-08-2020.
https://reportersonline.nl/kunstjes-met-valse-hitlers-shock-art-project-uit-2008-blijkt-gebouwd-op-bedrog/

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eBay policies

EBay has clear policies on the sale of artworks and objects with autographs/signatures. In our opinion the offering of this fake Hitler is a clear violation of all relevant eBay policies.

Ebay's selling art policy

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/selling-art-policy?id=4284

Ebay's Autographed items, Certificates of Authenticity (COAs), and trading cards policy
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/autographed-items-policy?id=4283

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Hitler withdrawn

On January 1, 2101, one day after we informed eBay about the dubious nature of this 'Hitler', eBay removed it from its website.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Adolf-Hitler-original-signed-painting-1915-pre-nazi-pre-WWII/193824519523?hash=item2d20d77563:g:nx
QAAOSwk4tf1tBz

© Compilation Bart FM Droog, 2020-2021.

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