Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Hitler's art on auction

They sold some paintings attributed to the young Adolf Hitler by the auction house Jefferys, at Lostwithiel yesterday.

It makes you wonder.

From The Guardian:
Mr Morris said Jefferys' rationale was that the paintings went back to a time before Hitler became a despot. In fact they might give a clue as to why he had turned out as he did. As a young man Hitler was twice turned down for a place at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He may still have harboured ambitions of making it as an artist when he was painting the landscapes now up for grabs.
"Perhaps if his art had been better received and he had developed a successful career as an artist rather than being rejected by the art establishment he would not have become the man he did, ultimately responsible for the death of millions of people," Mr Morris said.


But to be honest, his art wasn't good enough, so as an argument that just falls down, flails about a bit and lies there sobbing. You can't just put all wannabe art students through fine art academies in case they might become sadistic, megalomaniacal, genocidal, fascist shit-heads, can you? Were those really the only two career paths that were open to him? Surely there was a middle ground, say, of not ordering the deaths of millions, not invading anywhere, and perhaps making a nice cup of tea instead?

Why would anyone want to own such a picture?


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