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August 12, 2021 - Droog Magazine periodical for investigative journalism

"Hitlers" galore in Florida

to Hitler Forgery Industry index | 2021 | to Droog Magazine





Intro
|
Watercolors |

Works by same forger? (Berlin, 2019)

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 four fake Hitlers. Three of them are accompanied by fraudulent Frank P. Garo Certificates of Authenticity (CoAs).

The junk will be auctioned at August 12, 2021.


The watercolors

Lot 1353: "Adolf Hitler aquarelle Watercolor with CoA".
Start price about $800. Lot passed.


Click to enlarge.



Description by auctioneer: "Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) Austrian-born German politician, later dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945. Features a small town with a chapel and a bridge. Signed A. Hitler and dated to 1910. Measures 9 5/8 x 20 1/2 inches. Good condition. Comes with Frank P. Garo COA dated 2018. This lot has a reserve. Buyers premium 18%."


Click to enlarge.
Comment by Droog Magazine:

Another worthless fake, that doesn't resemble any believed to be authentic Hitler work. It is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity issued by Frank P. Garo, which in itself is a clear forgery indicator.  The CoA is dated March 21, 2018, #29125.











Source: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/108633019_adolf-hitler-aquarelle-watercolor-with-coa

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Lot 1357: "Adolf Hitler signed architectural landscape".
Start price about  $400. Sold for $2,100.



Click to enlarge.


Description by auctioneer: "Adolf Hitler architectural landscape watercolor dated 1911 and signed in lower right corner. Depicts a white castle on a mountain. Measures 1 ft & 3/8 inches tall by 10 1/4 inches wide. In very good condition with some light non-distracting foxing. Comes with COA. Deemed authentic according to terms. Buyers premium 18%."



Click to enlarge.

Comment by Droog Magazine:

Another worthless fake, that doesn't resemble any believed to be authentic Hitler work.

It is accompanied by a Certifi-cate of Authenticity issued by Frank P. Garo, which in itself is a clear forgery indicator. The CoA is dated February 7, 2018, #29029.








Source:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/108633023_1911-adolf-hitler-signed-architectural-landscape


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Lot 1358: "Adolf Hitler Watorcolor titled Heiligengreuz" [typos in title by auctioneer]. Start price about $350. Sold for $2,500. 


Click to enlarge.




Description by auctioneer: "1911 Adolf Hitler architecture landscape watercolor painting titled "Heiligenkreuz" signed and dated in bottom right corner. Depicts a small farm presumably in the village of Heiligenkreuz. In good condition, with some intermittent light foxing on the upper third of the painting. Measures 13 3/4 inches tall by 10 3/16 inches wide. Comes with COA. Deemed authentic according to terms. Buyers premium 18%."



Click to enlarge.
Comment by Droog Magazine:

Another worthless fake, that doesn't resemble any believed to be authentic Hitler work.

It is accompanied by a Certifi-cate of Authenticity issued by Frank P. Garo, which in itself is a clear forgery indicator. The CoA is dated April 10, 2018, #29156.


Source: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/108633024_1911-adolf-hitler-watorcolor-titled-heiligengreuz

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Lot 1359: "Adolf Hitler Watercolor Depiction of a River. Start price about $350. Sold for $1,600. 


Click to enlarge.


Description by auctioneer: "1911 Adolf Hitler Aquarelle watercolor depiction of a small house on a river. Measures 12 1/2 inches tall by 10 inches wide by itself; the top 20 percent of the watercolor is mounted to a paper backing which measures 16 3/4 inches tall by 13 9/16 inches wide. Yellow discoloration on former fold line from previous framing. Some original pencil sketching found on mountaintop. Deemed authentic according to terms. Buyers premium 18%."


Source: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/108633025_1911-adolf-hitler-watercolor-depiction-of-a-river


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Works by the same forgers?

On January 24, 2019 the police confiscated on suspicion of fraud three alleged Hitler watercolors, which were accompanied by Frank P. Garo CoA's. This happened at Auktionshaus Kloss in Berlin, Germany. When the police investigators researched these works they found clear evidence that the works weren't made in the 1910s, as the dates on the works suggested. Unfortunately, the police couldn't prove that the owner and the auctioneer knew that the works were fakes.


The signatures on the works shown above do look very similar to the signatures on the “Kloss Hitlers” from 2019. And two of the three Garo CoA's accompanying the works at affiliated Auctions were issued on the very same days as two of the CoAs that emerged in 2019 in Berlin.

Which means that all these works probably originate from one source. This doesn't necessarily mean that they were made by the same forger: it's throughout possible that the same forger painted a Hitler signature on unsigned works made by several unknown artists.




Kloss #286
(click to enlarge)

Kloss #287
(click to enlarge)
Kloss #288
(click to enlarge)


Kloss #286
 Garo #29025,
 February 7, 2018
Kloss #287
 Garo #28594,
 November 25, 2017
Kloss #288
 Garo #29157,
 April 10, 2018
Affiliated Auctions #1353
 Garo #29125,
 March 21, 2018
Affiliated Auctions #1357
 Garo #29029,
 February 7, 2018
Affiliated Auctions #1358
Garo #29156,
 April 10, 2018
Affiliated Auctions #1359
No CoA


Sources:

Bart FM Droog. 'Hitlers' in Berlijn. TPO ontdekt weer nieuwe Hitlervervalsingen. The Post Online, Woerden, 23-01-2019.
https://tpo.nl/2019/01/23/hitlers-in-berlijn-tpo-ontdekt-weer-nieuwe-hitlervervalsingen/?meprs=600d2d9f6146825107600006520e
Adolf Hitler paintings of 'no artistic value' on sale in Berlin. BBC News, London, 24-01-2019.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46991969
K. Feldhaus, A. Gröning und U. Ucta. Polizei stoppt Hitler-Auktion! Bild, Berlin, 24-01-2019.
https://www.bild.de/news/inland/news-inland/faelschungsverdacht-polizei-stoppt-hitler-auktion-59748122.bild.html

Bart FM Droog. Berlijnse politie doet inval bij veilinhuis na onderzoek TPO over valse Hitler-schilderijen. The Post Online, Woerden, 24-01-2019.
https://tpo.nl/2019/01/24/berlijnse-politie-doet-inval-bij-veilinghuis-na-onderzoek-tpo-over-valse-hitler-schilderijen/?meprs=300de7be11468251076200865604

Christina Burack. Berlin police seize 'A. Hitler' paintings on forgery suspicions at auction. Deutsche Welle, 24-01-2019.
https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-police-seize-a-hitler-paintings-on-forgery-suspicions-at-auction/a-47222587
Kate Brown. Police seize cliché mountain paintings by 'A. Hitler' from a Berlin auction house, saying they're fakes. Artnet.com, 25-01-2019.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/hitler-paintings-1448356




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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.