In this Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 picture an employee of an action house holds a watercolor landscape in Berlin, Germany. Berlin police say three watercolor landscapes allegedly painted by a young Adolf Hitler are being examined by experts to determine if they are fakes. The paintings were seized from a city auction house before they could be sold after they had received a complaint questioning their authenticity. (Gregor Fischer/dpa via AP)
January 25, 2019 - 6:21 AM
Berlin police say three watercolour landscapes allegedly painted by a young Adolf Hitler are being examined by experts to determine if they are fakes.
Police spokesman Martin Halweg said Friday the paintings were seized from a city auction house before they could be sold after they had received a complaint questioning their authenticity.
The paintings, dated 1910 and 1911 and signed "A. Hitler," were due to be auctioned Thursday. Halweg says they're now being examined by forensic specialists and art historians.
As a young man, the future Nazi dictator is thought to have painted some 2,000 pictures as he struggled to succeed as an artist in Vienna before World War I.
A Hitler watercolour of Munich's old city hall sold in 2014 for 130,000 euros ($147,400).
News from © The Associated Press, 2019