Episode #22: Hitler the (Failed) Artist (Season 2, Episode 2)

This episode is also sponsored by Audible: get a free audiobook download and a free 30-day trial here. Thank you for supporting our show!
Please note that some might find this episode offensive. I discuss Adolf Hitler as a person and have opted to show images of his artworks here. Note that by no means do I condone Hitler as a person, but I simply choose to place his interest in art in historical context. 
In June 2015, an auction house in Nuremberg, Germany, made headlines for a group of 14 small works sold for a sum of around $450,000. But when it comes to art and art auctions, we have to face a truth: a grand total of four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, spread out over the sale of fourteen separate pieces of mediocre quality, at a small auction house in Europe? Really, that isn't a fantastic haul, and shouldn't have garnered too much media interest. And yet it was a big deal. Why? What was so great about them? Well, it actually wasn't about quality or greatness at all. It was more about notoriety, because the artist was one of the most abhorrent human beings in all of history. The artist was Adolf Hitler.
In this episode, we contemplate the way that fine art inspired, affected, and ultimately molded the man who would become the biggest architect of terror in the 20th century.
// Please SUBSCRIBE and REVIEW our show on iTunes.
Twitter / Facebook/ Instagram
Want more art-historical goodness? Check out the links below:
Artnet.com: Hitler's Artwork Sells for $450,000 at Nuremburg Auction
Hyperallergic: Hitler’s Failed Art Portfolio Goes to Auction
LA Times Blog: Would You buy this painting by Adolf Hitler?
The Telegraph: Hitler Sketches that Failed to Secure His Place at Art Academy to be Auctioned
The Telegraph: Adolf Hitler Art Portfolio to Be Auctioned (Pictures)
Episode Credits
Production and Editing by Kaboonki Creative. Theme music by Alex Davis. Research assistance by Stephanie Pryor. Social media assistance by Emily Crockett.
Music: "Maroon" by Misha Dixon is licensed under BY-NC 4.0 (edited for time); "Like the sky" by Damiano Baldoni is licensed under BY 4.0; "Utopia's Darkness" by Julie Maxwell's Piano Music is licensed under BY-ND 4.0 (based on a work at http://www.juliemaxwell.com); "Chance" by Kai Engel is licensed under BY-NC 4.0; "Realness" by by Kai Engel is licensed under BY-NC 4.0
ArtCurious is sponsored by Anchorlight, an interdisciplinary creative space, founded with the intent of fostering artists, designers, and craftspeople at varying stages of their development. Home to artist studios, residency opportunities, and exhibition space Anchorlight encourages mentorship and the cross-pollination of skills among creatives in the Triangle.