March 25, 2020 - Droog Magazine periodical for investigative journalism

Forgery of a fake

to Hitler Forgery Industry index | 2021 | to Droog Magazine

 
Introduction | forgery of fake | auction policies |

dubious auction house 

Black River Auction from Pennsville, New Jersey succeeded on March 13, 2021 in selling lot 0295 for a staggering $305. This watercolor remained unsold a the previous attempt, December 6, 2020.  Then it was offered as lot 0206b. As before, the work is a forgery of a fake that surfaced for the first time in 2015. 

Click to enlarge.

Source: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/98023552_attrib-to-adolf-hitler-watercolor-floral

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Auction policies

ALL LOTS DESCRIBED IN  THIS CATALOG ARE SOLD "AS IS" EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED OTHERWISE. Our catalog descriptions for Lots are expressions of our opinion only. 

Source: Terms & conditions. Black River Auction, 2021.

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Dubious auction house

At the November 2020 auction more than 500 lots were offered, all attributed to famous artists as M.C. Escher, Robert Mapplethorpe, Banksy, Keith Haring, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and two "Hitlers', all at extremely low prices. Even though the auctioneer doesn't explicitly mentions that the works are authentic, the people who buy these, will in all likelihood sell them as authentic.

We've informed the auctioneer in November about the fake nature of the "Hitlers" he offered. He did not respond.

We've seen similar auctions with similar works, including one or two fake Hitlers  in the past two years in Peru and the US. It seems that one gang of forgers is responsible for it.

See also: "Hitler" in Zuid-Amerika opgedoken.  The Post Online, Woerden, 26-03-2019.

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© Compilation Jaap van den Born & Bart FM Droog, 2021.
Photo courtesy Black River Auction.

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