A watercolour painting by Adolf Hitler headlined Alexander Historical Auctions' February 10 sale in Maryland with a final bid of $27,500.
The early 1900s work depicts the Maria am Gestade church in Vienna and bears all the hallmarks of the future dictator's artistic style, including the oddly muted colours and poorly realised human figures.
 Hitler probably painted this work while living in Vienna in the early 1900s |
It was one of a number of controversial lots to cross the block in an auction that included SS uniforms and objects relating to high-ranking Nazis.
Unsurprisingly, the sale attracted a great deal of criticism. Bill Panagopulos, head of Alexander Historical Auctions, responded to the Daily Mail: "Our consignments come from all over the planet - everywhere from dusty attics to unwanted museum holdings.
"The market is quite good for this material. Why? Well, think of another six year period of history that affected the world as greatly as did World War II�Ǫ
"Many believe that the buyers of this type of material are neo-Nazis, revisionists, or people who idolise the Third Reich. That could not be further from the truth. They want 'proof', a connection, a relic - something to prove that these people existed, and that these events happened, good or bad.
"I am committed to making this material available as I believe that 'not all history is good history' and destroying or neglecting these items will only make it easier for revisionists decades or centuries from now to pretend that the Holocaust never happened."
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