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November 30, 2020 - Droog Magazine periodical for investigative journalism

More fakes from Pennsville

to Hitler Forgery Industry index | 2020 | to Droog Magazine

Introduction | forgery of fake | auction policies |

dubious auction house

Again Black River Auction from Pennsville, New Jersey will auction another five fake Hitlers on its 'Fine Estates: art, Fashion, Collectibles'auction, December 6, 2020. Among the fakes is even one real forgery, of a... fake.

The difference between fakes and forgeries is that forgeries are copies of an existing work, while fakes are pure fantasy works, not resembling any thought to be authentic artwork at all.

The fake Hitlers

Lot 0080: "Attrib. Adolf Hitler (Floral) Watercolor on paper." Start price $150; estimated at $3oo - $600 .

Description by auctioneer: "Untitled (Floral). Watercolor on paper. 12"x 9". Signed lower right side. Good condition. 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 0119b: "Attrib. to Adolf Hitler Watercolor Floral (German)." Start price $150; estimated at $3oo - $600.

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

Comment by Droog Magazine: See remarks at lot 0080.

Lot 0144b: "Attrib. to Adolf Hitler Watercolor Floral." Start price $150; estimated at $3oo - $600.

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

Comment by Droog Magazine: Fake. See remarks at lot 0080.

Lot 0175: "Attr. Adolf Hitler (Floral) Watercolor on paper." Start price $150; estimated at $3oo - $600.

Description by auctioneer: "Attributed to Adolf Hitler (German). Untitled (Floral). Watercolor on paper. 12"x 9". Signed lower left side. Some wear. Buyer's premium 28%."

Comment by Droog Magazine: Fake. See remarks at lot 0080.

Lot 0206b: "Attrib. Adolf Hitler Watercolor Floral." Start price $150; estimated at $3oo - $600 .

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

Comment by Droog Magazine: See remarks at lot 0080 and: this is a forgery of a fake Hitler. The original fake was about to be auctioned by auction house Nate D. Sanders in Los Angeles on March 26, 2015, but was withdrawn. See: 2015.

On the left the 2015 fake, on the right the 2020 forgery of the 2015 fake.

Source: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/183429_fine-estates-art-fashion-collectibles/

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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 were offered, all attributed to famous artists as M.C. Escher, Robert Mapplethorpe, Banksy, Keith Haring, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and two "Hitlers', 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.

We've informed the auctioneer in November about the fake nature of the "Hitlers" he offered. He did not respond.

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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