Paintings by Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler , leader of the Nazi Party in Germany in the previous years and during World War II , was also a painter. ¹ Hitler produced hundreds of works and sold hispaintings and postcardsto try to make a living during his years in Vienna (1908-1913). However, it was unsuccessful. Subsequently, several of his paintings were recovered after World War II and have since been sold at auctions for tens of thousands of dollars. Other works were confiscated by the US Army and are currently heldthe US government .

History

Artistic ambition

In his autobiography Mein Kampf , Hitler described how, in his youth, he wanted to be a professional artist, but his aspirations were ruined by not passing the entrance exam to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts . ² Hitler was rejected twice by the institute, once in 1907 and again in 1908; ³ the institute considered that it had more talent in architecture than in painting. One of the instructors, who sympathized with his situation and believed that he had some talent, suggested that it be applied in the Academic School of Architecture. However, this required Hitler to return to the high school he had abandoned and to which he was unwilling to return.

Later, when painting and selling postcards with scenes from Vienna , Hitler frequented artists’ cafes in Munich with the unfulfilled hope that consecrated artists could help him with his ambition to paint professionally.

According to a conversation before the outbreak of World War II in August 1939, published in the Blue Book of the British War, Hitler told the British ambassador Nevile Henderson , “I am an artist and not a politician . The Polish question, I want to end my life as an artist. ” ²

Period in Vienna

From 1908 to 1913, Hitler dedicated himself to painting postcards and houses for a living. He painted his first self-portrait in 1910 at the age of 21. This painting, along with twelve other paintings by Hitler, was discovered in 1945 in Essen , Germany. ³

Samuel Morgenstern, an Austrian businessman and business associate of the young Hitler in his Vienna period, bought many of his paintings. According to Morgenstern, Hitler first came to him in the early 1910s (in 1911 or 1912), when Hitler first came to his warehouse and offered him three of his paintings. Morgenstern maintained a database of his clients, through which it was possible to locate buyers of Hitler’s paintings. It was found that most of the buyers were Jewish. An important client of Morgenstern, a lawyer by the name of Josef Feingold, bought a series of paintings of Hitler representing the old Vienna. ⁴

World War I

When Hitler served as a soldier in World War I at the age of 25 in 1914, he took his paintings with him to the front and spent his leisure hours devoting himself to painting. The subjects of his painting of war included houses of farmers, stations, etc.

Auctions

A series of Hitler paintings were confiscated by the United States Army at the end of World War II. They were taken to the United States with other captured materials, and are still held by the US government, which has refused to allow them to be displayed. ⁵ Other paintings were taken by private owners. In the decade of 2000, some of these works began to be sold in auctions. ⁶ In 2009, an auction house in Shropshire sold 15 of Hitler’s paintings for a total of $ 120,000, ⁷ while an auction house also in Shropshire sold 13 works for more than € 100,000. ⁸ At a 2012 auction in Slovakia , an individual painting sold for $ 42,300. ^{Referring to Fig.}

Critical analysis

According to the weekly magazine Life magazine , Hitler painted hundreds of works. Some of these show that Hitler’s ability to paint was poor; ^{[ Citation needed ]} for example, because he painted people rarely. The cause that was speculated was lack of will or lack of ability. His paintings emphasize architecture, showing public places, buildings and country houses. In others, however, it was concluded that “he had a pinch of talent.” A modern art critic was asked to review some of his paintings without telling who painted them and labeled them “very good.” He criticized that Hitler’s different style in drawing human figures represented a profound lack of interest in people. ¹⁰

According to a report titled Hitler’s Watercolors: Recovered Works of Art: Homage to Rodolfo Siviero , prepared by the Alinari Brothers , the colors Hitler used to paint water show that he was “sad” as a painter. ¹

References