A man looks on a computer screen at an image of a painting by Adolf Hitler, done before he became Nazi Germany's dictator, titled “Maritime Nocturno”, on January 26, 2012. The painting has been put up for auction by a Slovak auctioning house, its head told AFP, and the opening bid for the painting is 10,000 Euros in a private auction that currently features four participants. - AFP Photo

BRATISLAVA: A painting by Adolf Hitler, done before he became Nazi Germany's dictator, has been put up for sale by a Slovak auctioning house, its head told AFP.

“The opening bid for the painting titled Maritime Nocturno is 10,000 euros (13,000 dollars) in a closed VIP auction that currently features four participants,” said owner of the Darte auctioning house Jaroslav Krajnak.

The mixed-media painting depicts a full moon over a glittering seascape.

The top bid had risen to 10,200 euros on Thursday.

“The painting has been offered for sale by an unnamed family of a Slovak painter who probably met Hitler personally when he was struggling to become an artist in Vienna during the early 20th century,” Krajnak added.

“I look at him as an artist -- in 1913, when Hitler painted this picture, he didn't know what would become of him in the decades to come.”The auctioning house already sold a painting by Hitler from the same family collection last year for 10,200 euros.

The auction, which also offers a painting by Pablo Picasso for 15 million euros, closes on Sunday.