While not well known for his watercolors, the failed dictator of Germany, Adolf Hilter, was quite a gifted artist. The esoteric fact Hitler aspired to artistic endeavor, preceding the atrocities for which he is remembered today, is an idiosyncratic component of WWII history.

Understandably, a gallery visit is unlikely to yield any of his work, but occasionally his pieces are bought and sold. Two such paintings have recently surfaced on Manion’s International Auction House - www.manions.com: a 1911 dated watercolor of the Votivkirche in Vienna, and his WWI era interpretation of a French farmhouse.

“This is quite an interesting glimpse into the soul of one of the most infamous figures in world history,” said Manion’s representative John Conway. “To look at these renditions, one would think the hand that held the brush belonged to a gentle man – but history has revealed the opposite.”