Hitler=Artist?

In Steven Kasher's article "The Art of Hitler" he presents a sampling of artifacts that were compiled for the time of Hitler and his rein over Germany. Before reading the article I was sort of intrigued by what the article was going to be about because one does not usually associate art with this particular time period. Often death and crude politics are the first things one thinks of when thinking about Hitler, not the artistic movements or pieces of art that came out of the time period under his rule.

He begins the article by talking about the significance of the swastika. Before the rule of the Nazis in Germany, the swastika was a religious symbol in some cultures or symbolized something like the sun, a far comparison to what it is now famously associated with. He goes into great detail about how the Nazi flag was actually designed by Hitler himself and the great detail he took when choosing the colors and symbol. He says, "To Hitler, the swastika symbolized the struggle for a totalized society rigidly stratified along sexual, racial, and class lines. It stood for a program of aggressive racial, sexual, and cultural purification, a struggle toward a single transcendent culture." It is sort of strange to think that Hitler interpreted the meaning of the symbol as something totally different from its original origins.

Kasher talks about how Hitler himself was an artist, from the ages of nineteen to twenty-five he actually worked as an artist. He talks about how Hitler's paintings depict architectural scenes but often his human figures are awkwardly drawn and are rarely seen in any of his paintings. I guess one could see this as being an early insight into how he feels towards people and control. Seeing that propoganda campaigns were widely used during the reign of Hitler, it is obvious that his background in art played a big part in popularizing the technique.

Recently in class we discussed the filtering of art and how it would inhibit the artistic expression of artist who dare to go outside the norm of what society considers to be "high art" or art in general. In the article, Kasher explains how the German Nazis sort of used the technique of filtering art. They proclaimed that July 16th was the Day of German Art. It was basically a huge celebration of the art annuals that were released, all of which Hitler presided over.

When looking over all of the works that were included in the project, I could not help but notice that many of the early drawings were reminiscent of Roman culture. Somewhat of a Spartan look was given to many of the works of art. Many of the portraits, which were all done in a very realistic style, portray woman and children of the ideal Aryan culture. It makes you question what sort of art could have emerged during this time period if there were no restrictions or harsh punishments.

Questions:
1. Does Hitler's artwork give insight into what his beliefs or ideals were going to be like later in life?

2. What are some of the typical styles of art and architecture that emerged from the Nazi era?