Customer Reviews

Adolf Hitler: The Unknown Artist

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hitler was known to be a "frustrated artist." He tried to enter art school in Vienna but was turned down twice. Nevertheless, for many of his years in Vienna and for a number of months in Munich he supported himself by painting postcards and other pictures. Over 600 of his paintings and sketches have survived and belong to various individuals around the world. Mr. Price has searched out these works and has photographed as many as he was allowed (which was most of them). These photographs are presented in this book. About 10 of them are presented in full color. The rest are presented in small black-and-white format with information listed as to what was written on the front and/or back of them, their size, what collection they belong to, etc.--as if in an art seller's catalogue. There is also a brief biography of Hitler. The books is most interesting, and one learns that perhaps Hitler was not as bad an artist as he is often portrayed!

While a few of the paintings in this book have supposedly beenproven to be forgeries, the majority have been proven to have been thework of Adolf Hitler. Billy Price, the author, has also stated that after the book was printed, he was contacted by several people who posessed verifiable paintings of equal quality.

This book has not one word of praise for Adolf Hitler nor any of his artwork. It is simply a listing of the art works in known existence. Yet, the first printing, which is a German language version, was confiscated by the German government. This book, which is the English language version, is actually the second printing.

During World War Two, the German propaganda machine generated many lies about our leaders. Churchill and Roosevelt were the butts of many jokes in Germany. We, the Allies, claimed that Hilter was a "house painter." Indeed, his favorite subjects were buildings. Therefore, we only lied a little.

When Hitler had applied to the art school in Vienna, he was turned down. They did recommend that he become an architect since he enjoyed painting buildings. Unfortunately, he had dropped out of school when his father had died and was not qualified for entry into architect's school. So, he went into politics instead. Imagine how different the history of the twentieth century would have been had they accepted him into the art school.

Over all, I rate this book very highly. How can anyone understand the personality behind the Adolf Hitler myth without seeing his artwork. END

The book is well done and Hitler's work from sketches to oil painting is much better than I had expected. Most interesting is his paintings of great old buildings. This book certainly shatters the myth that Hitler was a terrible artist and the crude distortion that he was a "house painter."

More than 50 years after the death and destruction attributable to Adolph Hitler, the mere mention of his name still brings out strong emotions in most people. While his politics deserve the severe criticism most people feel, it is fair to isolate portions of his life for study and to let opinions on those areas be based on their own merits (or lack of), and that is exactly what this book does as it relates to Hitler's artist talents and interests.

Not only does this book refrain from discussing any other aspects of Hitler's life and activities, but it also does not take sides regarding the talent or value of his drawings and paintings. It quotes the opinions of others, both praises and criticisms, but the author does not share any personal opinions he may have formed as a result of compiling the book. He even states that he will only report historical facts and will leave all judgements to the readers.

The book starts with the history of a young Adolph trying to earn a living as a painter and vowing to become a famous artist. It traces his artist interests from youth to rejection by artist school, through his continued interests as he shifts to becoming a writer then politician. Once in power in Germany it discusses his efforts to gather, document, and preserve his earlier artwork as "national treasures." It also discusses the evolution of interest in his work since the war, including forgeries and authentications.

All the above takes place in the first few pages of the book. The remainder simply shows examples of his work, along with titles, dates, and any other known relevant facts.

Any collector will tell you that the most valuable of any sort of collectable will be subject to forgeries, indeed few collections of any size exist that do not contain some undetected or questionable items. This fact should not be used to invalidate the existence of authentic pieces or the value of reference materials which seek to help the collector become more knowledgeable about their hobby.

It is hard to imagine how this author could have been more thorough or more fair with the treatment of this particular topic. This book is easily the best single reference source for those interested in the history of Hitler art and the variety of forms it took. Highest recommendations, without any reservations.

As I read through this book and looked at the recreations of Hitler's artwork, I can't help but wonder what might have been averted had the snot-nosed, elitist, STUPID instructors admitted him to the Art school that he applied to, at least to have given him the chance to prove himself as an artist. Whatever you think of him, he was a gifted artist; maybe not a Michaelangelo or Gogan, but with training and encouragement, instead of the ridicule he got, possibly he would have gone on to become a commercial artist, and six million lives might never have been lost; not to mention a war that might never have happened. Think about it, and get this book, if you can.

I first bought the German language version of this book in Braunau am Inn, Austria, in 1979. Immediately I recognized many of the paintings and drawings in here to be crude forgeries. Subsequent research has been published which proves many of the material here was forged by Konrad Kujau, later indicted for the Hitler Diaries hoax in 1983. For the record: all of the nude drawings of Geli and Eva are forgeries, all the paintings by "Hitler" post-1918 are forgeries and all the floral arrangement paintings are fakes. In addition, most of the paintings in the color section were done by Kujau.

So why am I giving this book 3 stars, instead of one? For several reasons. First, the book is beautifully produced, on thick, glossy paper and solid linen covers. And there are enough genuine Hitler paintings reproduced to make it worthwhile. Though flawed and loaded with forgeries, it's still a mandatory book for any serious Hitler collection. My favorite forgeries are the ridiculous "deer" paintings, which you'll see. There are absurd, yet passed off as genuine Hitler originals!

I have been to many of the places that were painted in this book. Amazingly where I took alot of the pictures were the same angle that Hitler painted these pictures. The paintings uplifts your spirit by showing the purity and wholesomeness of Germany. This book is amazing. You hear alot of people try to put down Hitler as a aggravated and no good painter and that the reason he put the degenerate art on display was because he was mad that he never got into art school. These comments are from the same liars that has Hitler's original paintings locked away like they will cause a uprise of National Socialist values. The forewords of this Book prove that statement Incorrect. Hitler could have made a Career out of art if he wanted, this book is the proof of that. I salute Mr. Price for not giving any opinion on the political view and /or trying to "Bash" the painter. also for refusing the German Government's ridiculous demand that he characterize Hitler on the cover of this book as the man responsible for the Holocaust. The International War Geneva Law states "All seizure or destruction of works of art is forbidden" so all we can do is hope that the artists wishes are carried out and that ALL the original Pieces go back to an art gallery in Linz. until that day all we can do is Buy this Book and quote a saying off a painting in this book on page 207 it says "WHENEVER FREEDOM IS VIOLATED, THE BEST MEN MEET IN PRISON!"

Even as a moderate liberal I can see the beauty in this book. This comes in two forms; the well-reproduced colour and black and white plates and succinct readability, and the well made "coffee table" quality of the binding. The colours used are modern today, hiding the age of the publication.
I paid [$$$] for the book, secondhand from the USA. This seems a lot of money but the pride in ownership of such a rare manual takes away the pain of the cost. Many of the paintings show the value and quality of my own Hitler watercolour (Church, Vienna period c.1910).
Some raised eyebrows from the usual...closed-minds, but that makes ownership more enjoyable.
Buy with confidence, this will appreciate in value.

A well known handwriting expert and a author of many books Charles Hamilton listed this book as: " Spurious or Very inaccurate" I only studied it briefly in a book shop in Illinois. But it seems to me mr.Price has made a... book of 589 forgeries including sketches oilpaintings etc. supposedly maked by Adolf Hitler.Thats about it.