Führer-approved sheep (painting by Ferdinand Schmalzigang)
We all know Hitler was an aspiring painter in his youth before he went on to found the Third Reich (which in itself was a demented artistic creation). Once in power, he planned on establishing a Führermuseum in his hometown of Linz, Austria, where he had assembled 4,731 pieces of art, ranging from painting, to tapestry, to sculpture.
The Führer’s taste ran to bucolic idylls and precious German Romanticism, in particular 19th century painters from Vienna and Munich. He ignored, famously, “degenerate” art by realistic or socially biting artists — among them the mightiest names of the 20th century — but he managed to assemble a large and not insignificant private collection.
That leaves out personal favorites like Otto Dix and George Grosz. I guess, according to Adolf, I have degenerate taste in art.
In the aftermath of the war the works of art were scattered across Europe.
After sifting through 50,000 photos taken by the Allies, and re-establishing details like authorship, the Deutches Historisches Museum now has the entire collection online.
Link to the database at the DHM. Getting into it is a bit tricky. First click on “zur Datenbank” then click on “OK” in the field right under “Volltextsuche über alle Felder”.
(via Der Spiegel)
I suppose he felt identified with the black sheep… or maybe with the rooster (gallo gallito)