The Courtyard of the Old Residency in Munich

The Courtyard of the Old Residency in Munich (1914) is one of the paintings by Adolf Hitler from his lesser known career as an artist. He illustrates a stone quad in front of a large manor.[1] During Hitler's time in Munich, he spent most of his days reading and painting; furthering his dream as an independent artist.[2]

The Courtyard of the Old Residency in Munich by Adolf Hitler.

Working primarily in watercolor, Hitler used the medium to depict both his love of painting and architecture.[3] The painting shows his style and mastery of watercolor to create strict delineation of the building, but on the left, we see two soft standing trees to contrast the harsh lines of the house. In many of Hitler’s watercolors, scholar Charles Snyder notes the “detailed attention to humble structures surrounded by water and vegetation, [but] the architecture is of the prime importance... Note plant life, especially leaves on trees. Leaves are typically daubed and dappled in with little regard for accuracy or realism, often used to 'frame' the subject…”.[4]

Again, in the lower left, we see a small fountain between the two trees. It has been said that Hitler washed his brushes in the fountain’s waters.

He painted the building using grays, blues, and browns; which give the setting a cold and quiet tone. Conversely, splashes of orange and red that he dabbled on a few of the window panes and sections on the roof, show that the sun is nearly rising or setting on his new home. He even painted the shadow of the small tower stretching across the courtyard to suggest the placement of the sun.

Hitler's Style and Influences

Hitler’s style was very calculated when representing architecture in his paintings. Instead of progressing in his artistic influence, his works copied the artists of the nineteenth century and many of the masters preceding him.[5] He claimed to be the synthesis of many artistic movements but it is clear that he drew primarily from Greco-Roman classicism, the Italian Renaissance, and Neo-Classicism. He liked the technical ability of these artists, as well as the understandable symbolism.[6] Rudolf von Alt was his greatest “teacher,” as he called him. There is similar use in color and subject matter between the two, but Alt displays fantastical landscapes giving equal—if not more—attention to nature and the surrounding environment than the architecture.

Vienna Academy of Fine Art

Hitler attempted matriculation twice at the Vienna Academy of Fine Art; once in 1907, along with 133 other applicants, and again in 1908. To his chagrin, he failed both admissions examinations into the Academy. In his first examination, he had passed the preliminary portion; which was to draw two of the assigned iconic or biblical scenes, in two sessions of three hours each. The second portion was to provide a previously prepared portfolio for the examiners. It was noted that Hitler’s works contained “too few heads”.[7]

Hitler's Collection

A group of scholars estimate that there are only 300 completed works by Hitler over the span of his life; however, Hitler mentioned in his book, Mein Kampf, that while in Vienna, he produced around two or three paintings a day. Even if he were to paint one portrait a day for the years he spent in Vienna, that number would be well over 600. Peter Jahn, perhaps one of the foremost experts on Hitler's art, said he had two interviews with Hitler. Hitler said in the six years he spent in Vienna and Munich, "from 1908 to 1914, he produced over a thousand paintings, a few of them in oils." Jahn was one of the original people assigned by Schulte Stratthaus, before Hitler annexed Austria in 1937. Stratthaus had been appointed by Hitler in 1936 to locate and buy any of the paintings Hitler had painted from 1907-1912, and 1921-1922. Jahn spent nearly four years tracking down Hitler's early works, until he was called into military service.[8] Jahn became the Art Consultant to the German Embassy in Vienna in 1937, where he would then search for, purchase and collect individual pieces of Hitler's art, in order to allegedly destroy a majority of the paintings. Jahn is currently selling one of the largest collections of Hitler’s art, about 18 pieces, with an average selling price of $50,000.[9] However, The Courtyard of the Old Residency in Munich and a few other paintings by Hitler are archived in the basement of the Army Center of Military History in Washington, DC never shown to the public eye because of their controversial nature.

Art in Politics

Although Hitler abandoned his passion for art to join the military in late August 1914 and went on to become one of the most infamous political figures in history, he still used art to his advantage. From July to November in 1937 The Degenerate Art Exhibition was organized by the Nazi Party in Munich to counterpoint the Great German Art Exhibition. It was recorded that over one million attended the exhibition in its first six weeks of showings. The collection had 650 works of art that were extracted from German museums and displayed them as “degenerate art”. If a piece was found to insult Germany, didn't apply natural form or classical style, weakness of character, mental disease or racial impurity it fell under the category of degenerate art.[10] Paintings were hung close together in uncomfortably small rooms, and were accompanied by hand written labels that often provided inaccurate information and condemning remarks.[11] The political goal of the exhibit was to counteract the movement of modernism and claim that it was a scheme for people who were against Germany. Hitler often blamed the Jewish-Bolshevist community for such and that they needed to be eliminated, even though there were only 6 Jewish artists out of the 112 included in the exhibit.[12] Art of the Third Reich was defined as racially pure, easily understood, and depictions of people who exemplified the German race. The Great German Art Exhibit served to abolish any use of Modernism, Expressionism, Dada, New Objectivity, Futurism, and Cubism that had existed since 1910.[13]

Notes

  1. ↑ Price, Billy. Hitler: The Unknown Artist. Houston, Texas: Billy F. price Publishing Co., 1983.
  2. ↑ Owens Zalamaps,Aldof Hitler, 28
  3. ↑ Grosshans, Hitler and the Artists, 33.
  4. ↑ Snyder, “The Real Deal- Adolf Hitler Original Artworks”.
  5. ↑ Owens Zalamaps,Aldof Hitler,23.
  6. ↑ Price, Hitler: The Unknown Artist.
  7. ↑ Owens Zalampas, Adolf Hitler, 16.
  8. ↑ Snyder,” The Real Deal- Adolf Hitler Original Artworks”.
  9. ↑ Snyder,” The Real Deal- Adolf Hitler Original Artworks”.
  10. ↑ Spotts, Hitler and the Power of Aethestics, 151-168
  11. ↑ Barron, Degenerate Art: The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany.
  12. ↑ Barron,"Degenerate Art": The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany.
  13. ↑ Barron,“Degenerate Art”: The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany,18.

References