Paintings by Adolf Hitler

[citation needed] In his 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf, Hitler described how, in his youth, he wanted to become a professional artist, but his dreams were ruined because he failed the entrance exam of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.

An important client of Morgenstern, a lawyer by the name of Josef Feingold, bought a series of paintings by Hitler depicting old Vienna.

[12] When Hitler served in World War I at the age of 25 in 1914, he carried fine paper and canvas with him to the front and spent hours of leave time drawing and painting.

Peter Jahn was one of the original people assigned by Ernst Schulte Strathaus [de], before Hitler annexed Austria in 1938.

[13] A number of Hitler's paintings were seized by the United States Army (some believed to still be in Germany) at the end of World War II.

The watercolour included a bill of sale and a signed letter by Albert Bormann, which may have contributed to its comparatively high selling price.

[22][23] In 1936, after seeing the paintings Hitler submitted to the Vienna art academy, John Gunther, an American journalist and author, wrote, "They are prosaic, utterly devoid of rhythm, color, feeling, or spiritual imagination.

[7] The directors of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna who rejected Hitler's application to join noted that he struggled to draw people.

[28][29] In a report entitled The Water Colours of Hitler: Recovered Art Works Homage to Rodolfo Siviero, prepared by Fratelli Alinari, Sergio Salvi rejects the characterisation of Hitler as "a grim Sunday painter" and describes him instead as a "small time professional painter" of "innocuous and trivial urban landscapes".

[30] Charles Snyder says that Hitler's watercolours often show detailed attention to architecture in contrast to the conventional and negligent treatment of plants and trees that often frame the subject.

[31] The Courtyard of the Old Residency in Munich (1914) is a watercolour by Hitler depicting the Alter Hof, a stone quad in front of a large manor.

[32] During Hitler's time in Munich, he spent most of his days reading and painting, furthering his dream as an independent artist.

[33] The Courtyard... and a few other of his paintings are kept in the basement of the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington, D.C., never shown to the public due to their controversial nature.