Arts Hitler for Sale
Watercolors thought to be by a young Hitler are going on sale at a small British auction house, which is a mite nervous about dealing in the Führer, but ready to rationalize.
Auctioneer Ian Morris tells the Guardian that while some auction houses won’t deal in Hitler or Nazi memorabilia, these paintings are OK to sell because they’re from before Hitler became, well, Hitler. These watercolors of fields and trees might tell us how he got to be such a bad man. And then, of course, comes the oft-repeated theory that it was “the art establishment” that brought us Hitler, since he felt so rejected when the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts would not have him that he had to lash out on the world.
“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.
In other words, the painting below may have been involved in helping to bring the 20th century to its knees. Look upon it at your own risk.
So if we can identify these budding Hitlers early, and all pretend to like their art even though it sucks ass, we can avoid dictatorships in the future?