Thursday 26 March 2009

Hitler’s first self-portrait up for auction

A self-portrait of Adolf Hitler is to go under the hammer.

The Nazi leader is hardly recognizable with no moustache in the picture which is thought to be the first he ever painted.

But he identifies himself with the initials AH by his head.

The amateurish painting is among 13 works by the Nazi dictator, created back in 1910 when he was just 21.

The small portrait has no nose or mouth, but the side parting hairstyle is unmistakable.

All the pictures were found in Essen, Germany, in 1945 by Company Sergeant Major Willie J McKenna. He sold them to the current unnamed owner, who kept them hidden for decades.

The pictures are expected to fetch tens of thousands of pounds at Ludlow Racecourse, Shrops, on April 23.

“There’s absolutely nothing in them to suggest the monster he became. But one can see why he didn’t make it as an artist,” The Sun quoted Richard Westwood-Brookes of Mullock’s auctioneers, as saying.

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