Adolf Hitler The Unknown Artist
by Billy F. Price
"More books have been written about Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich than perhaps about any other epoch in modern history. Yet despite Hitler's frequent comments that art and architecture dominated his personality, historians have largely ignored his art or dismissed it as an adolescent pastime. The primary reason may well be that, until now, no comprehensive and authoritative catalog of Hitler's art work has been assembled and available.
This splendid volume by one of the world's greatest collectors of Hitler's art, Billy F. Price, accomplishes, in a way, what officials of the Third Reich were unable to do: it brings together a sweeping and impressive collection of Hitler's paintings, drawings, sketches, doodles and daydreams. First published in a German edition in 1983, this new volume contains a number of paintings and drawings discovered since. Within these covers are pictures seldom seen by even the most learned scholars of Hitler's career: adolescent memories of pre-World War I Vienna, portraits of people who passed through his life, pastoral scenes long gone, and glimpses of forgotten streets of old Europe. The collection offers columned buildings, soaring churches, still-life floral arrangements, architectural plans for the future, and sketches of his searing experiences in the trenches of France.
These rare paintings, which Hitler himself conceded never sold for more than a few dollars, capture the sights and fantasies of the future Führer. They offer the skilled observer insights into Hitler's personality no less important than those provided by his written work Mein Kampf. That his artistic standards were embraced by millions of disillusioned Germans, and tolerated by millions more, only enhances the importance of this volume. Billy Price has presented us with a unique catalog of Hitler's art, and with it, an invaluable tool in the search for an explanation of the hidden side of Adolf Hitler." Professor Arnold Krammer, Texas A&M University
ARNOLD KRAMMER attended the University of Vienna and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. Now Professor of History at Texas A&M University, he has published dozens of articles in professional journals, and his The Forgotten Friendship: Israel and the Soviet Bloc, 1947-1953 received the Jewish Book Council's "Book of the Year" award.
BILLY F. PRICE, a native Texan and long-time Houston businessman, has spent over 35 years studying and collecting the graphic works of Adolf Hitler. As owner of one of the largest collections of Hitler art and an internationally acknowledged expert on the subject, Price was frequently urged to compile his studies in book form. His extensive research was supported and enriched by the generous help of such prominent eyewitnesses as Heinrich Hoffmann, son of Hitler's photographer; Henriette von Schirach, wife of the Hitler Youth Leader; Dr. Heinrich Heim, recorder of Hitler's monologues; Dr. August Priesack and Peter Jahn, both commissioned by the NSDAP to search for Hitler art; Dr. Eugen Dollmann, official interpreter for Hitler and Mussolini; Professor Hermann Giesler, Hitler's architect; and Christa Schroeder, Hitler's secretary. In the course of preparing this catalog of works, Price rediscovered many paintings and drawings which had been presumed lost. Although he personally does not consider the works shown here to be of great artistic value, he feels they are an important historical contribution to the understanding of Adolf Hitler.
INTRODUCTION
The name "Adolf Hitler" in conjunction with "artist" in a title is obviously an unusual combination and requires a short explanatory introduction. Hitler was, of course, one of the key historical figures of our century and has been the subject of a veritable library of monographs, articles and books. Considering the wealth of information available, it would seem that every conceivable aspect of the man has been analyzed in depth and presented in every possible form. The artistic ambitions of Hitler may also be familiar to many, since Hitler's early attempts to establish himself as an artist are at least mentioned in all of his major biographies. The real scope of these early activities, however, is less well known. Most historians offer only a few samples of Hitler's art, if any, among the obligatory collection of historic photographs. An interesting and perhaps even decisive part of his life is inevitably overwhelmed by the sheer mass of other, historically more relevant, information.
Naturally it is possible to describe Hitler as an artist only with considerable reservations, even though he called himself that up to the age of thirty, in 1920. Yet to ignore the artist in the man, to dismiss the major formative influence of art in his life, is a serious historical omission. The persistent misconception that Hitler was a mere "house painter" is an obvious distortion of the facts. Whether the description arose as a propaganda tactic or was the result of misinterpretation of early records, the error must be rectified. In the course of amassing all relevant information about Hitler, this creative and influential aspect of his life should not be overlooked. Nor is a written description of his artistic career enough: the collected body of his work must be presented and allowed to speak for itself as a documentary supplement to all other previously known sources.
The works presented here embrace all periods of his life: his early schoolboy doodles, the watercolors, sketches and oils from Vienna and Munich, the drawings and paintings from the First World War, and on through his years as a budding politician and finally as Chancellor of Germany. The variety and sheer volume of the art shown here provide a unique and penetrating view of Hitler as well as a relative complete survey of his artistic life. This collection includes all currently available private and official examples of Hitler's art.
The Central Archives of the National Socialist German Worker's Party (NSDAP) initiated the first effort to systematically trace, register, authenticate and acquire the water colors, sketches and oils produced by Hitler as a young man. Although the archives' activities were suspended upon the outbreak of World War II, the groundwork had been laid for a comprehensive survey of Hitler's work. The chaos of World War II and the postwar years in Europe infinitely complicated further efforts by interested historians and private collectors to locate the art. Much had been lost or stolen, more had been destroyed, and some had simply been misplaced or purposely hidden and forgotten. Ownership was extremely difficult to trace in this period of upheaval. Works of art frequently resurfaced years later in different hands and different countries. Even at this date, nearly forty years after the end of the war and fifty years after the search for the pictures was begun, the records are by no means complete. For various personal reasons, it was not possible to include a number of works in private collections. It is also to be expected that additional paintings and drawings will be discovered in the future, as occurred just as this edition of the book was being prepared for the printers.
The following background text has deliberately been kept short: the works in the catalogue section should be the focal point of interest. It must be emphasized that there has been no attempt to criticize or evaluate what is shown here. In a departure from the usual treatment of a body of art, all psychological, sociological or artistic analyses have been avoided. Such interpretations are left to the reader.