Art--You Philistines

[Montegriffo]

A watercolour thought to be painted by Adolf Hitler has sold at an auction in Germany for 130,000 euros (£103,000; $161,000).

The 1914 painting of Munich's city hall was put up for sale by two elderly sisters. Their grandfather had bought the painting in 1916.

A private buyer from the Middle East, who wished to remain anonymous, bought the work, auction house Weidler said.

Experts generally consider Hitler's artworks to be of poor quality.

The auction was held in the central German town of Nuremberg.
The original bill of sale was included with the painting, which contributed to the relatively high selling price, auction house director Kathrin Weidler said.

The sellers would donate 10% of the proceeds to a charity that helped disabled children, Ms Weidler added, according to Reuters news agency.

Previous sales of Hitler's art have caused controversy, and been criticised by some relatives of Holocaust survivors.

As a young aspiring artist, Hitler sought admission to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, but was rejected.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30160663

Don't know how they judge such things, but that's a lot better than I could do with watercolors.

I agree, those snobby Vienna academists bear the responsibility for the deaths of 6 million Jews. His crimes against art pale in comparison to his secondary career choices.

[Speaker to Animals]

Weird how they loved hos work in the 1930s, though.

[Montegriffo]

I think Winston had more talent.

[Speaker to Animals]

Hitler actually had good technique, but it was all so lifeless and bleak.

It was more like something us engineers would do when we dabble in art.

[heydaralon]

From Umberto Eco's Book of Legendary Lands:

[de officiis]

[de officiis]

Cassius Coolidge, "A Friend in Need"

http://www.thelonelypalette.com/episode ... poker-1903

[Martin Hash]

I want me a velvet Elvis.

[de officiis]

The Illustrations of Arthur Rackham

You could spend hours marveling at Arthur Rackham’s work. The legendary illustrator, born on September 19, 1867, was incredibly prolific, and his interpretations of Peter Pan, The Wind in the Willows, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Rip Van Winkle (to name but a few) have helped create our collective idea of those stories.

Rackham is perhaps the most famous of the group of artists who defined the Golden Age of Illustration, the early twentieth-century period in which technical innovations allowed for better printing and people still had the money to spend on fancy editions. Although Rackham had to spend the early years of his career doing what he called “much distasteful hack work,” he was famous—and even collected—in his own time. He married the artist Edith Starkie in 1900, and she apparently helped him develop his signature watercolor technique. From the publication of his Rip Van Winkle in 1905, his talents were always in high demand.

[de officiis]

"Alice" by Henry Tanworth Wells (1877)