Hitler's paintings. Why is Hitler still a bad artist? Mother Mary with holy child Jesus Christ

- Why do you say that Adolf Hitler was bad at drawing? I’ve seen his works, they’re well drawn, I like them, I might even hang one like that. And in general, if he had been allowed to become an artist, how history would have changed!

Caricature of Adolf Hitler by Louis P. Hirshman - 1937

In general, I didn’t want to write on this topic, but this thesis often comes up in comments from commentators.
That is, we are dealing with a common myth about art; That means we still need to talk about it.

So: Adolf Hitler is a low-quality artist, but at the same time you can like his drawings, and this is completely normal.
Well, the thesis about how history would have changed if he had followed the academic artistic path is a separate nonsense, not even in the sense that history does not tolerate subjunctive moods. But in a completely different way.

And now in detail.

(recently sold for $161K)

First, the zero point, introductory:
If you saw “drawings of Adolf Hitler” in some collection on the Internet and you liked them purely aesthetically, don’t be afraid!
There is a pretty good chance that what you see on this page is NOT drawings of Hitler.

The situation here is like this:
a) the graphic genre is generally very easy to fake. Paper and watercolor are much more difficult for experts to analyze using chemical methods than oil and canvas.
b) the work of a non-professional artist (like the subject), without his own brilliant handwriting, is much easier to fake than the drawings of Modigliani and Picasso.

=> forging drawings of Adolf Hitler at some point became a profitable business. Landscapes and still lifes allegedly painted by him began to appear en masse at (small) auctions.

That is, if you liked a certain “his” drawing, the likelihood that the drawing was drawn not by A.G., but by a specially hired day laborer artist (and of a higher level), is not so small.
Actually, to be sure that this is really the work of A.G. it is possible if this work is from state archives or museums in Germany. And published on their websites and catalogs, with attribution.

Everything else is written with a pitchfork, the same tribute to mass demand as Gucci handbags, “Stalins” to be photographed on Red Square, authentic “Malevichs” on ebay, and so on.

Even the publication of drawings on the Sotheby's website does not provide guarantees. And in the state archives of other countries, not Germany, I also somehow doubt it, to be honest, because who knows how they got there and in what ways, and how late. There are countless fakes in this world. What is in the USA is “trophy” - you can only believe what is clearly documented and immediately ended up in American archives.

This watercolor was sold for $11.7 thousand.

***
But since establishing the provenance of drawings published on the Internet is not my task and would take a colossal number of man-hours, I will take the most plausible one, belonging to his hand, but without guarantees that it is the original. Since we will continue to talk about his style and shortcomings globally, and the artists who counterfeited A.G.’s style also fit into the paradigm.

#1: Why do you like it?

Dear reader asks:
— Why do art critics criticize his drawings? Beautiful, everything is in place, well drawn. Is there a problem with them? It's all lies, good work!

Well, actually, it’s worth remembering that there is a big difference between what one sees in a work of art:

our conditional dear reader (without artistic education),

another reader (who graduated from art school),

graduate of the Academy of Arts, applied artist, working with his hands,

me, my classmates and colleagues (working with our eyes and tongue),

specialist in German graphics, 1st half. XX century,

etc. etc.

How to imagine this difference?
Let's talk about figure skating.

There is a performance by a couple of figure skaters on an entertaining TV show on Channel One.

I (a person as far removed from this sport as possible) really liked it: no one fell, everyone skated so confidently, the costumes were beautiful, the couple looked at each other so well.

My neighbor Aunt Masha, who has not missed a single skater performance (on TV) for the last thirty years, will be able to clearly describe what the couple did wrong.

The girl Katya from the next door, who has been figure skating for 10 of her 12 years, will notice even more shortcomings.

Irina Slutskaya bursts into tears with burning tears of horror.

So, a fairly large number of people who would like A.G.’s watercolors know as much about fine art as I do about figure skating.
For me, it’s enough that the skaters don’t fall, they do everything confidently and with fire. I won’t notice any sporting flaws.

Fine art has this too "enough to please". It was even clearly formulated using statistical methods.
The image must be realistic and resemble life.
The ideal picture is

An example that this is enough: a small but quite noticeable number of people in the comments really thought that he was good at drawing.

Two drawings by Farukh Bulsara, a design student.

And the people who paint portraits of passers-by on the Arbat are not without bread.

Therefore, the fact that the drawings of A.G. seem “good” to a large number of viewers is not proof that they are of real quality.
But only that they correspond to the points necessary to please viewers at the starting level of art education (realism, themes, calm coloring, cats in the frame, etc.).

They prove something else:
what does this viewer need needs to taste a little more art to begin to understand its varieties.

We have already done this clearly with regular readers:
And then, in comparison with real artists, how do you still need to draw a naked woman with a pencil so that it doesn’t look like a student?

This is from Titanic

For comparison, a certain Armand Point, 2nd floor. 19th century.
A completely unknown artist, but the school is immediately visible

Summary: there's nothing wrong with liking it. This is the brain's reaction to positive markers. For several pieces of positive markers.
But the secret to increasing your own intellectual level is to increase the number of markers that you can notice. This is one of the meanings of education.

No. 2: why is this not a fountain?

But here we need to talk specifically using the example of guaranteed things created by A.G., but here’s the ambush, no matter what I google, that picture turns out to be sold several years ago at auction, and before that, for several decades it was lying in the suitcase of my grandfather-officer, who I brought captured drawings from the Nazis and completely forgot about them. Here is a certificate of authenticity, as well as my grandfather’s service record, and a list of his medals, don’t you believe me?
Well, guys, how to work with this, really?

We'll make do with what we have.
In 1936, in Germany, under the strict control of the character under discussion, the book “Pictures from the Life of the Fuhrer” was published ( Adolf Hitler. Bilder aus dem Leben des Führers. Hamburg-Bahrenfeld). There's a lot of stuff there, mostly photographs. But there is also a chapter dedicated to his work. Hitler entrusted this chapter to the subtle art connoisseur Dr. Goebbels to write.
Who selected the pictures for this chapter? Goebbels or the author himself? Anyway, here are five of them, these pictures.
It is logical to assume that the artist chose those drawings from his work that he considered successful?

Here they are, guaranteed to be authentic, standard. (True, these are not originals, but reproductions in the book, so there are problems with the colors).

A year earlier, another book was published - Adolf Hitler Aquarelle (Munich: Heinrich Hoffmann, 1935). Here are pictures from it.

I have a feeling that you like these guaranteed items less than the polished auction items. No?

I really hope that many, simply by looking at these 7 drawings in a row, understood what their problem was.
But probably not many, so where should I go, I’ll explain in words, measure harmony with algebra, describe in letters how bitter differs from salty, beauty from vulgarity, and a female orgasm from a male one. An impossible task, let's begin.

Here is the cutest of these 7 drawings. And most auction items are about the same.

Typical features:
This is a landscape (a favorite genre for beginners), and an architectural one at that. Everything was done neatly, as if following a ruler. It is framed as if it were not the author’s choice, but a recut from a postcard with views of the city.
Signs of the author's lack of confidence in his skill:
absence of human figures, choice of watercolor technique (A.G. seemed to paint in oils, but very little), little emptiness.

Another drawing of Hitler, source of illustration unknown.

Postcard showing the same building

Remember figure skating? To be a “good” athlete, it is not enough to not fall and skate in such a way that the ignorant me would be happy; You need to be able to do a lot of additional things.
It’s the same here: to be a “good” artist, it’s not enough to be able to draw a building with a ruler and then carefully paint it. We need everything else. Tricks, flair, harmony.

For example, already 400 years earlier in drawings, artists knew that in landscape watercolors they could not be shy about such a thing as a contour and play with it.

Durer, 1494 (I also put all the works of other artists only in watercolor technique, especially so that you can evaluate the level of skill)

That the sky and horizon are not your enemy, but a full-fledged participant in the action. And that the compression of the composition by buildings is due to self-doubt, from the fear of empty space due to one’s weak level.

That the paints, damn it, should be laid evenly, and not in random spots.

Left: A drawing of Hitler sold for 20 thousand at an auction in Maryland. Right: Durer, 1495

It’s sad that in his drawings you don’t even feel a well-trained, steady hand (although he himself recalled that for several years he made 1-2 drawings a day just to earn a living).

That you shouldn’t be afraid to frame boldly.
Well, in general, you need to be able to build a composition, know about all sorts of descending and ascending diagonals of the gaze, so that there is no feeling of boredom or stasis. Give the work rhythm, dynamics, depth.

Drawing of Hitler made at the front around 1915-16 (from a book)

Drawing

You also need to be able to work with contrasts, to highlight the main and the secondary with chiaroscuro.

Hitler's drawing I don't know where it came from

Convey at least some emotions with your creativity!
Yes, simply draw any other weather and time of day, except for the conditional “not very hot day after lunch, no one knows what time of year.”

M. Dobuzhinsky, 1905 (by the way, it seems that it’s not watercolor, but pastel, sorry)

Words still don’t work very well; it is necessary to compare with more capable artists, because to understand, no matter how you look at it, you need eyes...

It's all a matter of taste! You can blame it on those who don’t like Hitler’s watercolors. These are just emotions when looking at the drawings. But the problem is that they don’t awaken very many emotions. As Wikipedia retells the words of an art critic: “They are prosaic, completely devoid of rhythm, color, feeling or spiritual imagination. These are intricate architectural designs: a painful and precise drawing, nothing more.”

Hitler's painting sold for 100 thousand euros

So, what does it take to consider a drawing good?
It should not look like a copy of a photo postcard. Objects on it should be framed according to the laws of harmonious composition, and not as it happened by chance; objects should be cut in half by the edge of the sheet carefully. The drawing must be done with a steady hand, both the lines and the color filling. At the same time, the author’s handwriting and individuality should be felt in the drawing - this is precisely the difference between craft and creativity. The drawing should evoke emotions. The colors should be harmonious, fit well, complement each other, and there should be a rhythm of lines in the drawing. Distorting reality (for example, grouping objects a little closer, brighter shadows) in order to exaggerate sensations is acceptable and even highly desirable. An airless, emotionless, weatherless environment is acceptable for architectural drawings of designed houses, but in an ordinary drawing there should be more life. The absence of people is generally a clinical symptom of psychiatry.

On the left is Hitler (from the book), on the right is Wilhelm Georg Ritter, 1896

Once again, in large detail, Wilhelm Georg Ritter: the same region, era, technique, theme. Feel the difference in ease of execution

V. Klein. Architectural drawing (with watercolor wash), i.e. this version of the drawing. 1892. This is a completely different genre, applied, technical. You see that in fact the works of A.G. closer to him?

And finally, the main reproach that can be brought against these works, which A.G. created in 1908-1916 before becoming interested in politics: they are hopelessly old-fashioned and behind the times. Its taste seemed frozen at the mark of a hundred years ago.

Karl Beggrov. 1820s

Drawing of Hitler (source unknown)

And this, by the way, is the golden years of the 1900-1910s, the time when the coolest things that were done in the 20th century were created, when the most outstanding artistic discoveries were made!

A. Benoit. 1890-1906. what an emotional thing.

Why is Malevich's "Black Square" cool? One of the key points was timing: because it was made in 1915. In 2015, he wouldn’t have given up on anyone. It’s the same with Hitler’s drawings - perhaps in colonial America or in Russia of Alexander’s time they would have torn this off with their hands (because they had no better). And in the days of the cave paintings of Altamira, he would have been an unattainable star, yeah.
But in Germany in the 1900-1910s, this was as “relevant” as today inviting Shura, Zhanna Bichevskaya or Bogdan Titomir to a corporate party. By this moment there had been a strong qualitative leap.

Egon Schiele (1913). This is already oil, not watercolor - I’m showing it to more clearly illustrate the jump.

Klimt (1916), oil

Umberto Boccioni. Forces of the street, 1911

Hitler is also considered a bad artist because all this passed him by. At all. He was completely deaf to this. And I even hated what I showed later
For example, Valentin Serov, with his purely realism, adapted and adapted to the work all the novelties of impressionism and avant-garde, and from this he became cooler and cooler, but this one could not do that.

And here we smoothly move on to the next point.

No. 3: and separately about Hitler’s failed destiny as a professional artist because of the evil selection committee

The story that Hitler tells in Mein Kampf goes something like this: he incredibly wanted to get into the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, but twice failed the entrance exams. The insidious old academics from the admissions committee clipped his wings.
The mass unconscious builds an alternative history out of this.
Like, if Hitler had gotten into the Academy and become a professional artist, he would have found his calling.
If he hadn’t gone into politics, we wouldn’t have gotten this whole lovely set of genocide, war, etc.

Yeah, right now.
People. To say about a person who lived in Western Europe in the 1900-1910s that
he didn't become an artist
"because I didn't study at the Academy of Arts"
This is an absurd phrase of the level of approximately:
“I didn’t become a rock musician because I failed my exams at the Conservatory.”

The artistic community of those years, starting with post-impressionism, is precisely a gathering of people who did not care about academic education. Anyone could become great (and did), if he had taste and hand, a sense of color and rhythm.

Marianna Verevkina. 1907

Because it was the time of “rock musicians” from painting, who did what they wanted, made the most unimaginable discoveries and thereby shocked the public.

If Hitler had entered the Academy, or not, everything would have gone the same way. After all, he painted for about ten years, living in Vienna - one of the world's cultural capitals, and made his living from this craft.
He sat down with other artists in a cafe, tried to get acquainted and fit into the crowd.
He was probably very persistent and charismatic (we know for sure that he had these qualities).
But he didn't succeed. His work seemed so uninteresting to everyone that he himself was unnecessary.
Education wouldn’t have changed this, because back then, to become famous, you had to be a rock musician.
And he played the button accordion, and out of tune.

And because of his innate petty-bourgeois, scrupulous, draftsman’s taste, he would never have undertaken any experiments. And therefore I would not have found my place in life as an artist. Moreover, he painted while in the trenches of the First World War, and only after returning from the war did he finally give it up and plunge into politics. Because after the war, the art world had no place at all for the classic Hitler.

Rudolf Schlichter, "Vision of a Great City" (Grossstadtvision), 1925-1929

The fact that Hitler did not become a famous artist was not the fault of the examiners of the Academy of Arts, but of the whole world around him, because it was the world of rock music, not the Berezka ensemble. And what he wanted was a quiet, quiet one, to the best of his talent.
Actually, when he came to power, he gave the artistic world the “rock” that he could reach. And he forced everyone else to sing solfeggio in chorus.

Goddess of Art. (also known as Göttin der Kunst). Adolf Ziegler - 1938)

Morality:
Do not invest in works signed by Hitler at auction.
Don't read naive books about alternative history.
If you decide to defeat Hitler, take a different path.

UPD from comments regarding a potential career as an architect
larta
There is no design thinking in the drawings. These are not drawings, this is a postcard sketch.
He just doesn’t see the structures, he doesn’t know how to highlight the main thing. What kind of architecture is there when everything comes together? And there is absolutely no understanding of the functionality of what is drawn. He doesn’t see the building, he sees the shell and even the material is poorly conveyed.
Klein's drawing clearly shows that the walls, door and windows are made of different materials. Despite the fact that this is washing, not painting. But Klein makes a clearly readable drawing with the understanding that the door is wooden, the windows have frames and glazing, and the wall is plastered. And this is precisely the important thing that he highlights along with the designs. But there is no such emphasis on the trees and the statue, because they are needed to create context and demonstrate scale. They don't steal the spotlight like the tree in Hitler's drawing above.

I see comments in the spirit of “would be a good architect” and I cannot remain silent. He wouldn't be an architect.
I already wrote about the fact that he does not see structural elements and materials. Someone else wrote well about poor laundering and confusion with plans. But these are technical errors that all beginners have. This can be fixed.
It seems to me that the most important thing is that he does not see people behind the buildings at all.
Architecture is not just artistically and ideologically arranged stone, metal and glass. This is always a reflection of how people live, how their life is structured, what they do. Therefore, it is impossible to do exactly the same as 100 years ago in architecture. It will simply be inconvenient for life and ineffective for work.
A person who draws the same material every day for 9 years and still makes the same “cute picture” of what seems attractive to him will not become a good architect. Because he is not interested in real people and real materials, he is interested in the same idea-picture in his head.

regarding handwriting:
lana_korobova
Hitler is not an artist at all.
In his case, it is useless to teach. There are problems of a psychological nature. Deformation of perception of the external world.
The common problem of all works is composition. She's gone. There is a set of semi-amorphous cardboard volumes, sloppily suspended, some in the forest, some for firewood, in the space of the picture. Absolute lack of constructive thinking and vision. The volumes are falling apart, as I already wrote - some into the forest, some for firewood. The space of the picture is seen by Hitler in an extremely flat way, with a very poorly understood and conveyed perspective. Lack of volumetric-spatial thinking. The volumes are deformed towards unhealthy amorphousness. They are deprived of tangibility, foundation, and a single compositional component. The texture of the depicted material, as already noted in one of the comments, is not conveyed, due to the fact that Hitler simply does not feel it, does not touch it. Not a single strong, concrete, confidently standing or lying line, silhouette, volume. I just don’t stutter about conveying an aerial perspective anymore. Hitler has a famous still life. Artistic and technical problems are absolutely similar to architectural landscapes. By the way, based on the signs I described, it is easy to distinguish

b_graf
For 11.7 thousand dollars - nothing like a picture (such a decorative one), but most likely a fake, because not like others :-). (People are better made, characterful, not extras, and the date was not put in the signatures of others, and in terms of technique - it seems that the real Hitler would have screwed up shadows everywhere).
Of the “undoubtedly warlike” ones, the second “front-line ruin” is nothing. But it was unfinished (probably purely from life - what I see, I sing), and it was necessary to draw the trees characteristically broken by artillery fire (this was emphasized in the photographs) - in the front right in the foreground (and not some incomprehensible crap in the background - the author maybe he knew what it was there, but the viewer didn’t :-)).
In general, he should have tried himself in book illustration or caricature; this could have greatly improved his painting in terms of content.
And so his paintings look like they were drawn according to instructions, one technique - apparently, he read textbooks on drawing techniques (but by no means art history books!). For example, he clearly liked to lay a shadow at an angle from the roof onto the wall, and also to give one side illuminated and the other not (you can almost certainly find a description of the methods in some manual). Maybe he was even proud of this technical ability of his, which, by the way, is not so trivial for a beginner - but personally, I can’t do that.

Hitler is an artist
Adolf Hitler often said that he always dreamed of being an artist, and art was in second place among his main interests throughout his life. In first place was, of course, Germany. At the age of 18, Hitler moved to Vienna to enter the art academy there, because he loved to paint with watercolors. Already being the Fuhrer of the Germans, he even sold several thousand reproductions of his paintings, which he painted in his youth, during his stay in Vienna (1908-13). This excitement is explained not by the greatness of Hitler as an artist, but by the fact that he headed the Third Reich and the Germans idolized their Fuhrer. Even today there are many collectors who collect Hitler's drawings.

The best work studying Hitler's work is the book Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics , its author Frederic Spotts began to seriously explore the artistic side of the brutal dictator. Spotts comments: “Yes, he most likely had some kind of talent, at least this follows from the fact that he drew most of his sketches as a self-taught person, without any additional education. Like most amateurs, he began by painting simple landscapes, buildings and city sketches, because such paintings were popular at the time, so they could easily be sold to make a little money.”

In his autobiography Mein Kampf Adolf Hitler told how as a young man he wanted to become a professional artist, but his aspirations were dashed when he failed the entrance exam to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Hitler failed these exams twice, once in 1907 and again in 1908. The examiners noted that he had more talent in architecture than in painting.

How many paintings did Hitler paint?

During his life, the leader of the Nazi Party of Germany painted hundreds of paintings. Scientists claim that we are talking about approximately 300 paintings. Although Hitler said that in Vienna he painted 2-3 paintings every day, that is, during his stay there he could paint about 600 paintings. Most of his paintings known to us are in private collections, some were destroyed or damaged. A number of Hitler's paintings were restored after World War II and sold at auction for tens of thousands of dollars. For example, on November 18, 2014, Hitler’s watercolor depicting the old registry office was sold at auction in Nuremberg for €130,000! Some of the paintings were captured by the US Army and are still owned by the US government.

Painting of Adolf Hitler...

"For five years I was forced to earn my living, first as a day laborer,
then - a modest artist; the meager earnings were not even enough to satisfy hunger every day..."

Adolf Gitler

The painting “Night Sea,” painted by Adolf Hitler about 100 years ago, was sold for 32 thousand euros (about 42 thousand dollars) at auction in Slovakia. Adolf Hitler created the painting “Night Sea” about a century ago. The painting depicts a night landscape, which includes small waves and falling moonlight. Overall the picture looks a little alarming...

The landscape, created in dark colors, was painted in 1913. Adolf Schicklgruber depicted an evening seascape, when the waves rush onto the shore under the moonlight. According to critics, “Sea Nocturne” demonstrates the real artistic talent of the future dictator.Experts valued the dictator’s work at 25 thousand euros, and the starting price for it at a closed VIP auction was 10 thousand euros. At the same auction, Darte intends to sell a painting by Pablo Picasso, the value of which is estimated at 15 million euros.

A Hitler landscape from 1913 was put up for auction by the family of an unnamed Slovak artist. Perhaps he personally met with Hitler in Vienna during the period when the future Fuhrer was trying to realize himself in creativity, suggested Darte owner Jaroslav Kraynak. He added that he perceived Hitler in 1913 "as an artist who did not know what would happen to him in the next decades."

In 2011, the Slovak auction house sold another painting of Hitler from the collection of the same family: the work “Secret Meeting” went under the hammer for 10.2 thousand dollars. Last year, a painting by Adolf Hitler was already exhibited at an auction in Slovakia. Then his work entitled “Secret Meeting” from the collection of the same family was sold at auction for 10.2 thousand euros. In addition, 15 more watercolors painted by Adolf Schicklgruber at the age of 19 were sold in 2011. Then they were valued at 125.5 thousand euros.

The painting dates from 1913. It was created by Adolf Schicklgruber at a time when he dreamed not of a political, but of a creative career. The painting put up for auction clearly indicates the artistic talent of the future dictator.

Adolf Hitler was passionate about fine arts since childhood; in his youth he even worked as an artist. In the late 1900s, he unsuccessfully tried to enter the Vienna Academy of Art. Having given up unsuccessful attempts, Hitler volunteered for the First World War, after which he decided to try himself in the political field.

In 1900, a conversation took place between 11-year-old Adolf and his father, which grew into a big scandal. The father of a tomboy who did poorly in all subjects was shocked by his son’s desire: he wanted to become an artist. Alois dreamed of seeing a major successful official in his son, but young Adolf studied very poorly, constantly receiving criticism on his behavior and discipline. Only in drawing did Hitler Jr. achieve high grades.

After the death of Alois, his wife Clara, left alone with five children, learned that she was terminally ill. Her desire to see an accomplished person in her son prevailed, and she nevertheless allowed Adolf to enter the Vienna Academy of Arts. Hitler neglected to prepare for the entrance exams, considering his talent to be genius, and in October 1907 he successfully failed all the tests. But, in order not to upset his dying mother, Adolf lied to her, saying that he had enrolled and would now study painting.

When his mother died, Hitler moved to live with his friend, but, ashamed of his failure, the young “false student” spent his days on the street, devoting his walks to contemplating the urban architecture of Vienna. In September 1908, he made a second attempt to enter the Academy, but this time too, fate turned against him: the selection committee did not even look at the work of the aspiring artist. Hitler fell into depression, which is why he soon found himself living in the city along with the vagabonds.

In August 1910, Hitler serendipitously met Reinhold Hanisch, telling him that he was a good painter. Ganish misunderstood his new friend, mistaking him for a painter. But later, after looking at Adolf’s creations, he invited him to organize a joint business.

From then on, Hitler began painting landscapes and city buildings on canvases the size of postcards. Ganish quite successfully sold them in taverns and hotels for 20 crowns. Later, when Hitler moved to Munich, the paintings were sold in larger quantities, bringing their author an above-average income.

The second stage in Hitler's work came when he was at the front. The watercolors painted in the trenches mainly depict buildings destroyed by bombing. It is noteworthy that in Hitler’s work at this time, images of people are almost completely absent.

In total, Adolf Hitler painted 3,400 paintings, most of them painted at the front during the war. But for a number of reasons (apparently, rather moral), most artists and experts doubt the authenticity of these paintings, and professional critics almost unanimously declare that these paintings do not represent any artistic value. But many still admit that the basic artistic techniques and principles (perspective, etc.) were observed correctly.

Only one of the few art historians - Doug Harvey - had access to all four classified paintings by Hitler. After studying them in detail, Harvey published a number of articles devoted to this work, where the position of professional critics and art historians regarding the Fuhrer’s work was clearly outlined. Thus, in an interview with the New York Times, he said: “As soon as the priests start talking about the paintings of Adolf Hitler, their tone becomes dismissive, as if recognition of his visual abilities could justify the Holocaust.”

Today, anyone can admire the Fuhrer’s paintings: most of the paintings are presented in many online galleries. Reviews from the majority of visitors to such sites, although very contradictory, emphasize that Hitler’s work is often capable of surprising, delighting, and exciting consciousness.

Here is one such review: “Beautiful, but if he had been accepted into an art school, it would probably have changed the whole history, and there would have been no war. After all, he just didn’t like drawing people."

In September 2006, a Jefferys auction was held in the UK, where works by the aspiring artist Adolf Hitler were exhibited.

They said that in his youth Hitler passionately dreamed of becoming an artist and even entered the Academy of Arts in either Munich or Berlin. The professor-painter, who took the exams (and he was Jewish by nationality!), “hacked” young Adolf, while advising him NEVER to take up a brush and calling his work something like “daub.”

The young man’s crystal dream was shattered, but a pathological hatred of all Jews appeared in the person of this Academy professor. What is reality in this story and what is legend - I don’t know! But the very fact that these “peaceful” paintings were painted by a man who dragged the whole world into war, a neurasthenic, a murderer and the embodiment of evil, surprises me!!! And you?

But he could become a good artist, paint landscapes and still lifes, earn his living by creating postcards and stamps, which, in principle, is what he did in his youth. But at one time, Adolf Hitler was not accepted into the Vienna Academy of Arts, recognizing his paintings as unremarkable, with the exception of those depicting buildings: cathedrals, palaces, museums. But Hitler was not interested in a career as an architect.

Who knows what the fate of the great dictator would have been like if he had become an artist or an architect. But history cannot be turned back, no matter how much we would like it. But now, several decades later, we can look at the paintings created by Adolf Hitler and be amazed at how a man who committed so many atrocities could be the author of these truly wonderful paintings.

Flowers, landscapes, still lifes... But Hitler’s real strong point was still images of buildings. He sought to capture on canvas the most beautiful squares, streets and avenues of the cities he visited. By the way, it is known that the postcards with architectural monuments he created were extremely popular among tourists.

But he either didn’t know how to draw people, or didn’t want to. In any case, it was precisely because of poor quality portrait drawings that Hitler was denied admission to the Academy of Arts. Yes, it would be better if the examiners accepted the aspiring artist into the first year.

...Hanisch noticed that Hitler had a talent for drawing, and gave an idea: “You will draw, and I will sell postcards. Christmas is just around the corner, we need to take advantage of it.” Hitler painted a lot and willingly. Hanisch visited cafes and pubs with painted postcards, and business flourished.

By Christmas they had both scraped together something and moved into the house where Grill lived, where for half a crown you could rent a room for a day. Various losers, dismissed officers, impoverished counts, bankrupt merchants and aspiring artists lived here for one or more days, weeks or months. Hitler celebrated his birthday four times in this “school of life.”

After postcards, Hitler began to paint pictures, mostly watercolors, and Hanisch found grateful buyers among furniture dealers and frame makers. There was a great demand for pictures that were inserted into the backs of sofas, and Hanisch urged his friend, on whose diligence the income depended.

The products sold well, but Hitler painted only when he needed money to rent a room, milk and rice. Most of the time he sat in the library, reading newspapers and making political reports. The topic was the same, but the audience changed. In the evening, Hanisch, who returned home, shouted: “Finally, work!”, and others echoed: “Work, Hitler, the boss has come!” Hanisch did not accept the objection that the artist needed inspiration: “An artist? At best, you are an artist from hunger!”

Hitler also tried to forge paintings. He hid the views of old Vienna he painted with his older sister, who was married and lived in Vienna. She kept them in a damp basement for too long, they deteriorated and she couldn’t sell any of them.

Hitler wore a lapserdak-like black frock coat, which was given to him by his roommate, the Hungarian Jew Neumann, with a bushy chin and long hair, so that new residents often mistook him for an Eastern Jew. Hanish mocked:

“It seems like your father wasn’t home one day. Look at your Desert Wanderer boots!”

In those days, the young artist did not attach importance to appearance. After a year of cooperation, Hanisch did not pay for one painting. Hitler, hesitating because he himself was on the run, nevertheless reported him to the police. Hanisch was convicted and disappeared from the horizon.

The new seller of paintings was the aforementioned Neumann. The buyers were mostly Jews - the Hungarian Jew engineer Reczai, the Viennese lawyer Dr. Joseph Feingold and the picture frame dealer Morgenstern.

Churches, majestic cathedrals, tranquil countryside and gentle coastlines are all rendered in soft, soothing watercolors. Looking at these works, one might come to the conclusion that they were written by a very intelligent young artist, but, alas, the person who owned the authorship chose a different path in life.

It's hard to believe that the artist who owned these works plunged the world into darkness and horror and inspired German soldiers to kill millions of people of all ages.

The Vienna Academy of Arts refused to admit Hitler to study twice: in 1907 and 1908. Both times his work was considered not good enough. Vienna played a big role in shaping Hitler's personality and his artistic side. Many historians also believe that it was in Vienna that Hitler's core dark beliefs were formed.

Artist Hitler's life changed when he enlisted in the Bavarian army in 1914. And even then he continued to create his works when there was time for it. He even worked as a cartoonist for an army newspaper.

Hitler was later decorated for his bravery. During his service, he was seriously wounded by a shell in the leg and blinded by mustard gas. But the most serious wound for Hitler, as for many Germans, remained the defeat of Germany in 1918 and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles. A feeling of unbearable humiliation overwhelmed many Germans at that time. Hitler's paintings during the First World War differ significantly from his previous works. They became more abstract and rough. This painting depicts a soldier in an overcoat walking through a French city.

This painting depicts a German soldier looking into the distance through a battle wall. This painting is completely devoid of any architectural details, but much attention is paid to the figure of the soldier.

It's sketchy, but the main part shows the city of Ypres in ruins. Trees lost their leaves, and buildings were stripped of their roofs and parts of their walls.

Tanks lie in ruins on an abandoned battlefield, under a smoky sky. The image is dark, almost apocalyptic. The barbed wire makes the work especially depressing.

After Hitler was released from prison, and also after coming to power, Hitler did not leave the brush. This photo shows that he returned to architecture, but this time not to the outside, but to the inside.

Collectors around the world are hunting for the dictator's works. His paintings and sketches are valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Such great interest is connected, of course, not with the professionalism of the artist, but with the dark history that enmeshes his name.

In 2009, a unique painting was discovered in Vienna. In the drawing, dated 1909, young Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) and Adolf Hitler play chess. On the back there are authentic autographs of two future leaders of Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. A wooden chessboard was found along with the painting, which may have been used for this game. The painting and plaque will be auctioned today, April 16, in Shropshire, England. The starting price of the lot is 40 thousand pounds.

The drawing was painted by Emma Löwenström, who taught Hitler art in Vienna.100 years ago, in 1909, young Adolf Hitler lived in Vienna, where he tried to make a career as an artist. Lenin, who was in exile, also lived there. In 1909, Hitler was 20 years old, and Lenin was almost twice his age. The house in which they are supposedly depicted was known at that time as a place where politicians gathered and discussions were held. This house belonged to a wealthy Jewish family that fled Austria on the eve of the World War, leaving both the drawing and the chess set to their house manager.Now the butler's great-grandson has put both items up for auction.The seller is confident of the authenticity of both items. This is evidenced by a 300-page document, including the results of research and examinations.

Paintings of Adolf Hitler show no signs of his psychological problems, hatred or madness. Unfair ridicule is a thing of the past; his watercolors attract the attention of viewers. There is an opinion that Adolf Hitler was a half-trained mid-level artist and he was only successful in urban and rural landscapes, but they also have problems with perspective and proportions, although the overall impression of them is good, and the images of people, animals, and still lifes left much to be desired.

Adolf Hitler painted in the style of the Impressionists, although the influence of Biedermeier is undeniable. His paintings are amazingly beautiful, touching and a little naive, they simply glow. Warm and so familiar colors. It seems to me that he was a talented artist. As you know, history does not like the subjunctive mood, but I wish he had become an artist. Then history would have gone differently.

From Werner Maser's book "Adolf Hitler" : “The fact that Hitler's works dating from before 1914 have survived many decades proves that they are not so bad, especially considering that among their buyers and owners there are famous and knowledgeable collectors. The doctor Bloch kept after 1908 the watercolor that Hitler gave him as a token of gratitude for treating his mother, also, of course, not only because Adolf and Klara Hitler were his patients until 1907...among the owners of Hitler’s paintings from the period 1909- 1913 there were such people as the Hungarian engineer of Jewish origin Rechay, the Viennese lawyer Dr. Joseph Feingold, who from 1910 to 1914 supported young talented artists, and the seller of picture frames Morgenstern to many hotel and shop owners in Linz and Vienna. as well as scientists in 1938, there were even several paintings of Hitler from the period of “study and suffering in Vienna.” The Longleat Castle of the English collector Henry Frederick Thynne, Lord of Bath still contains 46 paintings signed by Hitler from the period before 1914.

"English writer, artist and director Edward Gordon Craig, who had a special interest in "the artist Hitler", wrote in his diary after studying Hitler's watercolors from the First World War that he considered these works a notable achievement of art."

Art critic Doug Harney wrote:“Hitler’s cityscapes have a certain charm, a certain calm and humility, so unusual for his personality. His work is executed with skill and energy, and, had his fate turned out differently, he could have had a very successful artistic career.”

Most of Hitler's watercolors and paintings are in the secret safes of the Center for Military History of the American Army; they got there after the war from the collection of photographer Heinrich Hofmann, which they had been in since the 20s. Access to them is prohibited to all but a few art experts.

Moreover, they will never be shown to the public because they are considered “extremely dangerous.” Many are in private collections, so the exact number of surviving Hitler paintings is unknown. Art historians estimate the number of surviving paintings by Hitler to be about 3,400.

"Oedensplatz" (1914).

Hitler's obsession with art began in childhood, which increased tensions between him and his father, who wanted his son to pursue a career in customs. A few years after his father's sudden death, Adolf Hitler moved to Vienna to begin his new life as a poor artist.

Vienna period (1907-1912).

"Color House"

"A Musician from the Old Town of Vell" (c. 1910-1912).

"The Hills".

Despite the fact that the buyers of Hitler's early works were mostly Jews, of whom there were also many among his friends; conscious anti-Semitic sentiment grew every day.

"Large colored pansies."

"City square, store entrance".

"Castle Battlements" (1910).

"Vienna State Opera" (1911).

"Perchtoldsdorf" (c. 1910-1912).

"Munich Theater" (1914).

"White Orchids" (1913).

"Munich Gates of Victory" (1913).

A little about their parents:
Psychologist Erich Fromm considers Alois Hitler, Adolf's father, a man who loved life and had a sense of duty and responsibility, and believes that in the role of an educator this man was not at all a “bogeyman.” According to Fromm, he was not a tyrant, but just an authoritarian person. However, this opinion in many respects contradicts some facts. It seems that the image of his father was anything but a role model for the boy.
Alois Hitler was grumpy, hot-tempered and rude, sometimes even using assault against his own wife and an innocent dog. He considered cruel “physical methods of education” to be completely compatible with the mental development of the child. John Toland writes that Adolf's half-brother Alois Jr. suffered most from such executions, whom his father once beat with a whip until he lost consciousness. Hitler once admitted that the humiliation he experienced caused him more suffering than the beatings themselves.
Psychoanalyst Alice Miller illustrates the terrible consequences that this “black pedagogy” had for the personality of Adolf Hitler with examples of his subsequent criminal actions. The tyrannical methods of his father's upbringing forced Adolf to live in constant fear. The father did not admit apologies for committed or only alleged misdeeds, and the only hope of saving himself from another beating and preserving the remnants of his own dignity was a lie.
Adolf Hitler's subsequent behavior was influenced by another circumstance of his childhood. As a child, he was forced to carefully hide his fear of his father's daily violence, not only out of fear of the possible consequences, but, above all, because no one would believe him. Who would imagine the revered and respected head of customs in the role of a rude family tyrant? Many later biographers of Hitler, in particular Jochim Fest, saw childish exaggeration in Hitler's stories about his father. There is reason to believe that, having become Reich Chancellor, Hitler unconsciously adopted his father's behavior: before foreign guests he appeared as a mature statesman, whose views looked quite peaceful and dignified. At the same time, within the state, he acted with firmness and incredible cruelty. Most likely, the father served as the prototype of a new type of enemy. The figures of this image were first the enemy soldiers in the First World War, then the “November criminals” and, finally, the Jews, onto whom he successively transferred all his suppressed hatred.
Hitler himself was of the opinion that the father’s character is a factor that leaves an imprint on the formation of the son’s personality structure. He later stated that the most important phase in character formation is the age “at which first impressions penetrate the child’s consciousness. Gifted people retain traces of memories of this time even in old age.” From this point of view, the development of many of the basic characteristics of Hitler’s personality seems quite understandable, although for Joachim Fest it still remains unclear how “Hitler’s initial weakness turned into his strength, and the romantic escape from the world was transformed into a thirst for power and a desire for extreme solutions.” .