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Freud-Owned Hitler Painting For Sale

One Jew who may have helped the Führer out

by
Marc Tracy
February 16, 2010
Freud, whose cigar in this instance is just a cigar.(FiledBy)
Freud, whose cigar in this instance is just a cigar.(FiledBy)

Mullock’s Specialist Auctioneers have an interesting specimen for sale: a watercolor painting of a pastoral church, with two intriguing names on it.

On the back, implying the one-time owner: “Sigmund Freud, Vienna.”

Signed on the front, implying the painter: “A. Hitler, 1910.”

Both were in the Austro-Hungarian capital at the same time, which means they may have known each other.

The artifact will start at 10,000 British pounds. But still: a painting by Hitler owned by Freud? In several senses of the word, that’s priceless.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.