Hitler paintings sold for £95,000

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The art was found in Germany by a British soldier at the end of World War II

Examples of what are thought to be Adolf Hitler's early paintings have been sold for more than £95,000.

The 13 works, which were sold at Ludlow Racecourse in Shropshire, were left forgotten in a collector's garage, specialist auctioneer Mullock's said.

One picture of a man sitting on a stone bridge, which appears to depict the Nazi leader's distinctive side-parting, was sold for £10,000.

The pieces were apparently found by a British soldier in Germany in 1945.

He is understood to have been serving with the then Royal Manchester Regiment, which was stationed in Essen in the Ruhr at the time.

'Hardly Picasso'

Several of the paintings, which are mainly landscapes, are signed "A Hitler" in the corner.

Richard Westwood-Brookes, from Mullock's, said the total sale price of £95,589, which included the buyer's premium, was far greater than he expected.

The paintings were apparently taken from Germany at the end of WWII

"I'm very pleased," he said. "I thought they would go for between £5,000 to £6,000.

"As works of art, they are hardly Picasso.

"You can take a view of Adolf Hitler and his prowess as an artist but I don't think anybody would agree he was in the first rank, by any means.

"But it's an opportunity of obtaining a piece of original art that was done by Hitler."

Mr Westwood-Brookes added: "If the character had run through, you would expect him to be painting bold, aggressive images, military subjects, subjects about battles and people being killed.

"But there's nothing in the art that he produced in those days to suggest that."