Hitler watercolor to go under hammer in US

Los Angeles: A still-life watercolor painting of flowers by a young Adolf Hitler will be sold at auction in Los Angeles this week, organizers announced Monday.

The 1912 canvas, painted by the Nazi-leader-to-be when he was a struggling artist in his mid-20s, is going under the hammer at the Nate D. Sanders auction house on Thursday.

The 13.5- by 10.75-inch (34.3- by 27.3-cm) painting shows a blue ceramic pitcher holding orange, red and soft pink flowers -- an unusual subject at a time when Hitler was focusing more on landscapes and architecture.

Bidding for the canvas will start at $30,000.

Hitler moved to Vienna as a young man to try to make it as an artist. Ironically, a Jewish art dealer believed in his talent and sold several Hitler paintings to wealthy Viennese Jewish clients beginning in 1911.

When the anti-Semitic Nazi leader swept to power in the 1930s his forces seized Morgenstern`s gallery and he was deported to the Lodz Ghetto, where he died in 1943, according to the Los Angeles auction house.