Auction House Withdraws Terrible Hitler Flower Painting

Adolf Hitler Vase Mit Blumen (1912) Photo: Nate D. Sanders Fine Autographs and Memorabilia

A Los Angeles auction house has pulled a 1912 watercolor painting by Adolf Hitler which was due to be auctioned on Thursday, the Guardian reported. The starting price for the painting was set for $30,000 (see Would You Buy One of Hitler’s Terrible Flower Paintings for $30,000?)

Nate D. Sanders Fine Autographs and Memorabilia confirmed that the still life depicting a bouquet of orange, red, and pink flowers in a pitcher has been withdrawn from the sale. The auction house did not divulge the reasons behind this decision.

The auction house also withheld the provenance and the identity of the consignor, mentioning only that the painting came from a private collection.

Hitler painted the artwork shortly after moving from the small town of Linz to the Austrian capital Vienna in 1908 at the age of 18 to pursue his dream of becoming an artist. However the Vienna Academy of Art rejected the future leader of the Nazi party twice.

Although Sanders pulled Hitler’s flower painting, the sale of other Hitler related paraphernalia, such as a two-part edition of his political manifesto Mein Kampf, starting at $35,000 and a signed change of residency document, starting at $20,000, went ahead.

Controversy regularly ensues when Hitler’s artwork comes up at auction (see Hitler Watercolor to Be Sold at Weidler and Middle East Collector Buys Hitler Painting for $162,000).


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