Saturday, May 2, 2009

Hitler's Paintings: Not Bad!

Honestly, I know he was a genocidal despot and everything, but I kind of like these. Admit it, they do have a certain bucolic, pastoral charm, do they not? Auctioneer Ian Morris assures us that "his style is quite naive, so easy to imitate," but come on, no need to be hard on the guy just because he was...Hitler. Granted, I would not really claim to be a genuine art aficionado. But I know what I like.

Aww, there's the little guy himself. He looks so cuddly-uddly-uddly.

7 comments:

Jason said...

I've read art critics say that his paintings were all off balance. Meaning he put all the tall objects on one side of the painting, instead of balancing them out.

You can really see this in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th paintings -- they kind of hurt your eyes to look at.

People see that as a sign that he was unbalanced in the brain, but maybe that's reading too much into his paintings.

ninquelote said...

Did he paint these before or after he became the nefarious one? I'm no more of an art guy than LE is, but I don't think they're that bad either. I could almost see that guy with the afro on PBS painting one of these.
-Now, let's put a happy little Jew right over here. Oh, let's give him another little friend. That's nice. Hmmm... Those Jews sure are happy on their little hill with that happy little tree. Sooooo happy. I think those Jews may be a little too happy... they're mocking me, aren't they? AREN'T THEY!? Kill them allllllll!!
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yoggoth said...

Those paintings are bad. He just learned to copy a couple styles. You could learn to paint that well in a few months.

Little Earl said...

However loathe I may be to admit it, I would be willing to bet that most people, after trying to learn to paint for a few months, could not paint as well as Hitler could. I'm sorry. True, these paintings lack any sort of unique artistic vision, and in that sense they are "bad." But they evoke something in me nonetheless. Which is usually not a problem, except this time I find myself looking at the pretty colors in the water under the bridge and thinking, "Oh, that's nice," and then realizing, "Wait a second...this was painted by Hitler!" Here was a young man expressing his feelings in art, and we generally don't think of Hitler as a person capable of sensitivity and emotion, even at any point in his life. It's almost like these paintings are a relic from the life of a young German named Adolf Hitler who died in World War I, completely separate from the post World War I Hitler whom we all came to know (and hate). I guess a world war will do that to a fellow.

Unknown said...

I think it may well be impossible to judge, once you know who painted them. The artist is irretrievably tied to the art produced. I don't enjoy looking at these pictures. But others bought them - weren't they on postcards?
That said, as I commented the other day at work, referring to another comment about Hitler, there is no need to make up bad stuff about Hitler.

Anonymous said...

If you should see her…

Anonymous said...

There are many overrated millionaire painters who do modern crap paitings which are just splatters and cuts or glued parts on a canvas.. im surr critics find these to be amazing lol