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June 25, 2021 - Droog Magazine periodical for investigative journalism

"Hitlers" keep flooding Florida

to Hitler Forgery Industry index | 2021 | to Droog Magazine





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Watercolors | Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska

Auction policies | Past "Hitler" auctions by AA

In the ever continuing  flood of clearly fake Hitler watercolors offered by the Tallahassee (Florida) based auction house "Affiliated Auctions" (AA) we've spotted another six fake Hitlers. A novelty is that three of them (lots 5312, 5313 and 5314) are accompanied by forged CoAs.

The trash will be auctioned at June 23, 2021.


The watercolors

Lot 5306: "Adolf Hitler Vienna Painting w CoA".
Start price $300.


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Description by auctioneer: "Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945. In 1907, Hitler left Linz to live and study fine art in Vienna. He earned money as a casual laborer and by painting and selling watercolors of Vienna's sights. This watercolor painting signed by Hitler and dated 1910 of a clock tower and fountain.

Dimensions: 8 3/4 x 6 3/4 inch. Some 1mm each non distracting flaked loss on clock tower building. Accompanied by Garo Certificate of Authenticity. This lot has a reserve."


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Comment by Droog Magazine:

Another worthless fake. It is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity issued by Frank P. Garo, which in itself is a clear forgery indicator.












Source: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/104534519_1910-adolf-hitler-vienna-period-painting-w-coa

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Lot 5307: "Adolf Hitler Vienna Painting w CoA".
Start price $300.



Click to enlarge.


Description by auctioneer: "Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945. In 1907, Hitler left Linz to live and study fine art in Vienna. He earned money as a casual laborer and by painting and selling watercolors of Vienna's sights. This watercolor painting signed by Hitler and dated 1909 features the town centers well. It has speckled foxing, mounted to card stock slight weakness noted in top right corner edge easily remedied with framing. Accompanied by Garo Certificate of Authenticity. 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches. This lot has a reserve."



Click to enlarge.

Comment by Droog Magazine: Another worthless fake. It suffices to say that the forger painted the wrong year on it, as Hitler didn't make any water-colors at all in 1909.

It is accompanied by a Certifi-cate of Authenticity issued by Frank P. Garo, which in itself is a clear forgery indicator.


Source:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/104534520_1909-adolf-hitler-vienna-period-painting-w-coa


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Lot 5311: "Adolf Hitler Painting Alte Rathaus Bonn Ger-many". Start $300. 


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Description by auctioneer: "Adolf Hitler - German (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) Austrian-born German politician, dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945. In 1907 he moved to Vienna and earned money as a casual laborer and by painting and selling his art, particularly architectural renderings. This painting of The Alte Rathaus at Bonner Marktplatz, The Old Town Hall in Bamberg, is signed lower left corner A. Hitler, oil on canvas tacked to stretcher. General yellowing and discoloration to overall painting related to age. Dimensions 13 3/4 x 17 3/4 inches. Deemed authentic according to terms. This lot has a reserve.”


Comment by Droog Magazine: Another worthless fake. Hitler made no oil paintings. He also never produced any work at all all on which buildings in Bamberg were depicted.


Source: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/104534524_adolf-hitler-painting-alte-rathaus-bonn-germany

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Lot 5312: "Adolf Hitler Watercolor Painting with CoA". Start price $300. Sold for $2,700.


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Description by auctioneer: "Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945) Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945. In 1907, Hitler went to live in Vienna and study fine art before joining the military. This watercolor is on paper, signed in lower left corner, professionally framed and measures 12x15 in total with a 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch image.
Condition: very good and accompanied by Certificate of Authenticity (Polish)."



Click to enlarge.

Comment by Droog Magazine: Another worthless fake.

The CoA in Polish is allegedly issued by Mrg. Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska from Kraków (Cracow / Krakau). But there are strong indications that the CoA in itself is a forgery, composed by an unknown forger.  See Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska.




The text in Polish is:
Certfikat Autentyczności

"Niniejszy obraz wedlóg mojej oceny jest Autentyczną pracą Adolfa Hitlera, Niemieckiego polityka, Kanclerza Rzeszy Niemieckiej. O wyżej wymienionej opinii świadczy technika wykonania akwareli oraz złożony na niej podpis."

Translated:
Certificate of Authenticity

"This painting is, in my opinion, an Authentic work of Adolf Hitler, German politician, Chancellor of the German Reich. The aforementioned opinion is proven by the technique of execution of the watercolour and the signature affixed to it."


Comment by Droog Magazine: This CoA merely proves that the person who issued it, doesn't know anything about the works once made by the failed artist Adolf Hitler.

Source: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/104534525_adolf-hitler-watercolor-painting-with-coa


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Lot 5313: "Adolf Hitler Watercolor Painting with CoA". Start price $300. Sold for $3,500.





Description by auctioneer:
"Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945) Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945. In 1907, Hitler went to live in Vienna and study fine art before joining the military. This watercolor is on paper, signed in lower left corner, professionally framed and measures 12x15 in total with a 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch image. Condition: very good and accompanied by Certificate of Authenticity (Polish)."


Click to enlarge.
Comment by Droog Magazine: Another worthless fake.

The CoA in Polish is allegedly issued by Mrg. Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska from Kraków (Cracow / Krakau). But there are strong indications that the CoA in itself is a forgery, composed by an unknown forger.  See Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska.






Source: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/104534526_adolf-hitler-watercolor-painting-with-coa


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Lot 5314: "Adolf Hitler Watercolor Painting with CoA". Start price $300. Sold for $1,800.


Click to enlarge.


Description by auctioneer: "Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945) Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945. In 1907, Hitler went to live in Vienna and study fine art before joining the military. This watercolor is on paper, signed in lower left corner, professionally framed and measures 12x15 in total with a 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch image. Condition: very good and accompanied by Certificate of Authenticity (Polish)."


Click to enlarge.
Comment by Droog Magazine: Another worthless fake.

The CoA in Polish is allegedly issued by Mrg. Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska from Kraków (Cracow / Krakau). But there are strong indications that the CoA in itself is a forgery, composed by an unknown forger.  See Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska.




Source: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/104534527_adolf-hitler-watercolor-painting-with-coa


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Mrg. Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska

The big question is if these Polish CoAs are indeed issued by Mrg. Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska? A person with this name exists and is working as an art historian and art valuer. It seems highly unlikely that she would issue such amateuristic looking CoA's.


If she hasn't issued them, then a forger has abused her name to sell these awful fake Hitlers. If so, then this is a case in which fake Hitlers are offered with double fraudulent CoAs. Double, 1: because CoAs to fake works are a contradictio in terminis. 2: They are not issued by the person who allegedly issued them.  

Mrs. Oczko-Kozłowska's reputation as an authenticator is however disputed in Poland. It appears that she has a habit of issuing CoAs to forgeries. 

On Polish Art Corner. Polscy arty
ści na zagranicznych rynkach aukcyjnnych (Polish artist on foreign auction markets), the following is remarked about her:




Work allegedly made by Wojciech Weiss (1875-1950), with two CoAs by Jadwiga Oczko-Kozlowska. According to Polish Art Corner a fake.

"It really takes a great deal of impudence, ignorance and the pursuit ofmoney on the part of Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska, M.A., calling herself an 'expert appraiser in the field of valuing works of art' (theaddress in Cracow is on the stamp), to describe this painted creature as the work of Wojciech Weiss. This is another example showing howcompletely unregulated the Polish art market is, dangerous for an unprepared collector who trusts in academic degrees (we must admit,however, that MA is a very low academic degree), lost and without knowledge of the subject. Money can be invested in such 'scheisse'.Which later could be tried to sell to another uninformed, lost collector. One authentication by Ms Oczko-Kozłowska is not enoughfor this forgery, two authentications, issued a month apart, are needed. I am presenting photographs of both judgements here as awarning against Mrs. Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska, but also as a warning to stay away from this type of (sorry for the word) crap, paintingcrap and also crap... (adjective) judgements. Question: why did the owner of this work not sell it in Poland? Answer: because none of thePolish auction houses would accept it for their auction, not even the PDA in Krakow. Question: why did auction house OWL accept it for itsauction? Answer: auction house OWL accepts everything for its auctions, especially Polish forgeries. Question: why does OWL auctionhouse compare this shit... with Weiss's work sold in Desa? Answer: It's a last resort to convince buyers. Please look at the photographof the real Weiss work sold in Desa for 60,000 zloty (06/06/19, lot 42) and wipe your glasses. I look forward to your comments!"


KZ, Polish Art Corner, May 12, 2020.

https://polishartcorner.com/2020/05/12/wojciech-weiss-1875-1950-czyli-brzydki-falsyfikat-z-dwoma-orzeczeniami-autentycznosci/


Polish Art Cortner shows the two CoA's issued by Mrs. Oczko-Kozłowska to the disputed Polish work. These look pretty amateuristic too, but not as idiotic as the probably forged Oczko-Kozłowska CoAs accompanying the fake Hitlers. Even if you don't understand Polish, the differences are ewasy to spot. On the left the original CoAs, on the right the probably forged ones.


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We've contacted Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska and are awaiting her answers.

To make this all even more suspect, at another US auction (Livingston Auction Inc, Edison NJ, June 26, 2021) a fake Hitler sketch is offered with a Polish CoA, with almost exactly the same text as on the ones described here. But that one was allegedly issued by the well known Polish art historian, Miroslawa Wojtczak, who passed away in 2015. 


Click to enlarge.

Left: the other CoA, with almost exactly the same text as on the CoAs allegedly issued by Jadwiga Oczko-Kozłowska. It is also clear that a similar cheap type of stamp was used to apply the name and address.










So apparently a Polish forger is abusing names Polish art historians (bona fide or not) to fabricate these fraudulent CoAs.


Site: http://rzeczoznawcakrakow.com.pl/

Obituary of Miroslawa Wojtczak (2015).
http://zpaptorun.pl/index.php/2015/10/22/zmarla-miroslawa-wojtczak/

The Livingston Auction: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/105497111_adolf-hitler-pencil-drawing-with-coa



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Auction policies


Affiliated Auctions: “Descriptions are not intended to be definitive and should be thought of as opinions on the genuineness, authorship, attribution, provenance, period, culture, source, origin, or condition of the property. No statement made in item leads, descriptions, estimate or during the sale should be considered an assumption of liability or warranty. Lots of items that we deem to be questionable in nature will be described as “unauthenticated”. Usage of this term does not imply anything other than our opinion. Artworks described as a work by a specific artist fall into our highest tier of authenticity, however, no qualified statement about the authorship is strictly implied. Artworks described as “attributed to...” are most likely, in our opinion, a work by the artist but there is less certainty expressed than in the terminology described above. (…) The term signed by and/or dated by the artist is believed to have been inscribed by the artist's hand. The term bears signature implies that the signature may have been added by someone other than the artist. (...) Autographs and autographed items are believed to be authentic unless otherwise stated.”

Source: Terms & conditions. Affiliated Auctions, 2021.

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Affiliated Auctions - in the past


On March 8, 2018 this auction house sold six clearly forged Hitler sketches, as being authentic Hitler artworks. All six were accompanied by fraudulent certificates of authenticity issued by Frank P. Garo. The works were sold for $20,800.

In 'The Tallahassee Auction' (Droog Magazine, 09-03-2018) we reported on this case.  

On April 11, 2019 Affiliated Auctions sold another fake Hitler. This one was sold for $ 3,800. We reported on that case in 'A Hitler' in Florida' (Droog Magazine, 03-04-2019).

On June 25, 2019 Affiliated Auctions sold another fake Hitler. This one was sold for $ 7,400. We reported on that case in 'A Hitler' in Florida (2)' (Droog Magazine, 24-09-2019).

In 2020 and 2021 Affiliated Auctions offered again more fake Hitlers. In 2021 the auction house also offered counterfeit euros, on at least two seperate auctions.

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© Compilation Bart FM Droog, 2021.
Photos courtesy Affiliated Auctions.