Before his fateful entry into politics, Adolf Hitler wanted to be an artist. Even the most neutral imaginable observers known examples Estimated 2,000-3,000 paintings and other artworks He would have produced in his early adulthood, and rarely proved an astonishing genius. They show specific technical capabilities, especially when buildings are involved. (The young Hitler, who was rejected twice by the Academy of Arts Vienna, was recommended to apply to the Architectural School instead, which is also the subject he has publicly declared his passion.)
Can Hitler’s failure to enter the art world explain anything about the cultural policies of the Nazi Party he led? Open Culture has previously featured a single definition event for that policy. Dyerth Stelling “Entalte Tekunst”, Or a degenerated art exhibition performed in 1937 at the Archaeological Institute in Hofgarten, Munich.
“It quickly became a huge hit by presenting 650 forfeitured works aimed at humiliating German feelings, destroying or disrupting natural forms, and simply revealing the absence of proper manuals and artistic skills, and attracting a million participants in the first six weeks.
Paul Cree, George Gross, Otto Dix, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Pieto Mondrian, Mark Chagal and even Grant Wood are just a few. The Nazis seem to have been unable to come up with anything that was so appealing to the original planned one. Große Deutsche Kunstausstellungor “The Great German Art Exhibition.” That collapse prompted Hitler’s chief propagandist Joseph Goebbels to suggest that they propose a show of work that they did not do, rather than a work that the Nazis approve.
A particular Expressionist worshipper, Goebbels showed a more culturally open mind than Fuhler, who actually declared a war with modern art itself. You can learn more about it from the David Grubin documentary Degenerate artcan be viewed online. The Nazis confiscated more than 5,000 artworks, maintained over 16,000 files, and labeled files labelled “DeGenerate” as historic inventory, which is open to the public. Surprisingly, their blacklist did not include the works of Gustav Klimt they tried to use for their own purposes. Hitler, a failed artist, may have known good art when he saw it.
Related content:
When the Nazis declared war with Expressionist art (1937)
16,000 artworks censored by the Nazis and labelled “degenerate art”: Full historical inventory now online
How Gustav Klimt’s avant-garde art was badly approved by the Nazis
10 Nazi Control Freak Rules for Jazz Performers: A Strange List of World War II
How France is hidden Monalisa & Other Louvre masterpieces have been around for World War II
When German performance artist Ureye stole Hitler’s favorite painting and hung it in the living room of a Turkish immigrant family (1976)
Based in Seoul Colin marshall Write and broadcasting stationTS about cities, languages, and culture. His projects include the Substack Newsletter Books about cities And the book The Stateless City: Walking through 21st century Los Angeles. Follow him on social networks previously known as Twitter @colinmarshall.
