A watercolor Adolf Hitler painted in Vienna in 1910 was sold for $36,000 at a New Year’s Day auction here, the World Jewish Congress reported.
The sale triggered an angry but peaceful demonstration by some 25 people against “the celebration of an evil man who’s well known for his mass murder, not well known for his art.”
The 9-by-15-inch painting, signed by Hitler, depicts a church, a bridge and a horse-drawn carriage in old Vienna. It was auctioned by the Den of Steven Gallery, which obtained it from a retired Ford Motor Company executive who insisted on remaining anonymous.
The purchaser was Dr. Donald Wright, a Louisville physician. The protest was organized by J. Mary Sorrell of the New Jewish Agenda.
The demonstrators marched outside the gallery chanting “Their ashes for Den of Steven’s profits,” a reference to the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
