Customer Reviews

Adolf Hitler als Maler und Zeichner: Ein Werkkatalog der Olgemalde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen und Architekturskizzen (German Edition)

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

 

 

I first bought 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!

Yes many fakes are present in this book however it is still the premier source for information pertaining to Hitler art. The information presented in the book should be viewed in order to humanize Hitler. What!!?? Yes. It has been our demonizing of Hitler that actually fails to describe and associate unspeakable evil with an average type man - possibly even a man of average artistic talent. These men and their potential are everywhere. We should start to understand evil on a more realistic level by beginning with ourselves and noting that all of us are capable of evil. This book helps to provide a means to enable this process.