What if Hitler Would Have Been an Artist instead of a Nazi?
Adolf HITLER started out as an innocent, lovable little boy.
127 years ago today, on April 20, 1889 a baby boy was born in Austria-Hungary, a town on the border with Bavaria, Germany. He was the fourth of six children, his parents named him Adolf and the rest is history. Or is it? It’s hard to imagine Adolf Hitler as an innocent little boy playing in the yard with his five brothers and sisters.
Little Adolf was strong willed and refused to conform at school
HIs dad, Alois retired and moved to Lambach, where he farmed and kept bees. Hitlers dad was a bee keeper? So is mine. Hitler attended a nearby school. He was soon impressed with warfare after finding a picture book that his father had about the Franco-Prussian War. Hitler refused to conform to the strict discipline at school and this caused a lot of father-son conflict. When Hitler was eight he took singing lessons and sang in the church choir, he even considered becoming a priest. I wander how that would have changed what we know as history.
Tragedy hit the Hitler home, changing little Adolf for the worse.
In early 1900 his little brother Edmond died of the measles and that realy affected little ten year old Adolf. “He changed from a confident, outgoing, conscientious student to a morose, detached, sullen boy who constantly fought with his father and teachers.” ~wiki
Hitler’s dream was to be an ARTIST but dad won’t have it
His dad wouldn’t allow Adolf to go to a classical high school and become an artist. In fact he sent him to some other, more rigid school and the young Hitler rebelled and did poorly, like so many artists do, but on purpose, hoping his father would see “what little progress I was making at the technical school he would let me devote myself to my dream“.
Three years later his dad died quite suddenly, Hitler’s grades got worse and his mom allowed him to leave that school. Two years later, in 1905, Hitler passed a the final exam, he left the school without any ambitions for further education or clear plans for a career.
given the chance, he is Rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts… Twice
From 1905, Hitler lived a bohemian life in Vienna, financed by orphan’s benefits and support from his mother. He worked as a casual laborer and eventually as a painter, selling watercolors. The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna rejected him twice, in 1907 and 1908, because of his “unfitness for painting“. The director recommended that Hitler study architecture, but he lacked the academic credentials. On 21 December 1907, his mother died at the age of 47. After the Academy’s second rejection, Hitler ran out of money. In 1909 he lived in a homeless shelter, and by 1910, he had settled into a house for poor working men on Meldemannstraße. ~Wiki
Follow your dream, & encourage your children to follow theirs
At Folio Academy, we say, “follow your dream”. Well, if art is your dream, we really say “follow your dream”. I know so many artists who love what they do, who were often discouraged by other’s, from going into such a career. “You’ll starve!” “You won’t make any money until after you’re dead.” I am not a big advocate for college and university educations either. I know a lot of would be artists that may have done very well and loved life as an artist or professional illustrator had they not been “Kicked Out” of school for “unfitness for painting“.
What if…? Could Art Have Saved 6,000,000 Lives?
What if poor little Adolf had a loving father who encouraged and nourished Hitler’s desire to be an artist and devote himself to his dream? What if The Academy of Fine Arts accepted him in 1907 or 1908, because they had room or they didn’t need to worry about their high academic standards? What if he would have had the internet and he was able to learn from other artists who didn’t care if he was fit for painting, and went on to be a happy, even semi successful artist?
There is good in everyone, even Adolf Hitler?
I am not saying that I love Hitler or that I condone any of his CRAZY and ruthless act. I believe he became an evil man. But I know he started out, innocent and pure, he was a lovable baby and a child, he was a brother who probably loved to play outside in the dirt with his siblings and little friends and his little brother Edmond. I believe there is good in everyone, even ADOLF HITLER. He liked to color and draw and water color. He wanted to be an artist, what’s wrong with that? but NO…
Was he one of those lefties made to be a righty?
He was right handed but… was he always right handed? I wonder if he was one of those frustrated left handed kids who was forced to be right handed. No wonder he cracked.
Room for 1 More Piece by Adolf Hitler
Courtyard of the Old Residency in Munich ~Adolf Hitler
P.S. Happy Easter.
This piece has a really nice mood set with evening sun and contrasting shadows. We get the feel that even though this might get scary everything is going to be ok because big brother is watching out for little sister. Nice color harmony overall. I think you could give more of an indication of the distant house – perhaps centered in the symmetrical negative space you provided – or left out and give us more trees going back into the distance. A careful attention to anatomy and detail in the foreground would tighten up and bring focus and interest into your work. Nice.
