Is the artist Adolf Hitler an unrecognized genius or mediocrity?

The future founder of the totalitarian dictatorship of the Third Reich did very poorly at school. Almost the only subject with which young Adolf coped perfectly was fine art. He dreamed of becoming an artist, while his father, Alois Hitler, wanted his son to go into public service. On this basis, violent quarrels often arose between them. Adolf was foaming at the mouth, proving that he was only interested in art.

In 1907, when Hitler Sr. had already died, Adolf tried to enroll in The Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. He had a very high opinion of his talent and did not consider it necessary to prepare for the entrance exams. As a result, it failed miserably. However, not wanting to upset his terminally ill mother, the young man told her that his work captivated the admissions committee. For days on end, the false student wandered through the streets of Vienna, examining the city architecture and making sketches.

A year later, Adolf decided to try his luck again and this time he had already done some work on preparing for exams. But the result was the same. The members of the commission barely looked at the work of the novice artist. Hitler began to sink rapidly to the bottom, more and more often he appeared in flophouses and pubs in the company of dirty tramps. The money from the sale of paintings was barely enough to live on.

It is not known how Hitler's life would have turned out if he had not met a certain Reinhold Ganish, with whom they organized a joint business. Ganish quite successfully sold postcards to tourists with landscapes and views of Vienna, painted by a self-taught artist. They diverged by 20 crowns so well that the court recognized Hitler as a wealthy man, and the pension for the loss of the breadwinner passed to his younger sister Paula.

In 1913 , Hitler moved to Munich, where he turned into a successful master at all. His works have become more diverse. Germans willingly bought not only landscapes, but also soft soothing still lifes.

The Munich period ended when a young man at the age of 25 was called to the front of the First World War. He took paints with him, and in his spare time he studied painting. The drawings painted in the trenches contrast sharply with the much more sensual early works. The watercolors are dominated by buildings destroyed by bombing and military equipment.

After returning from the war, Hitler became closely involved in politics and wrote only occasionally. Sometimes he amused himself by portraying naked women.

In his early years, the future dictator painted several self-portraits. Perhaps the most interesting of them is dated 1910. Hitler depicted himself without eyes, nose and ears, but the characteristic combing of hair and initials above the figure in a brown suit allowed art historians to attribute the picture.

In total, Adolf Hitler's brush owns more than three thousand paintings and sketches, most of which were painted at the front. The most expensive work was sold at auction for ten and a half thousand pounds. It was purchased by an unknown Russian. Four paintings of the Fuhrer belong to the US Army and are buried in a secret underground vault at the Center of Military History. Access to these paintings is open only to a few experts, and, according to the Americans, the canvases will never be presented to the public.

According to many critics, Hitler's painting talent was modest. This explains the small number of portraits. However, when a contemporary art critic was asked to consider some of the paintings without saying whose works they were, he rated them as "pretty good".