Baker 1

Allison Baker

English 1201

Professor Loudermilk

07 July 2019

Annotated Bibliography

My essay will attempt to express the relationship between Adolf Hitler’s use of art and his

political rise to success. I want to understand how art influence him in his own life, how he used

and influenced art to further himself politically, and how art was influenced after his reign. If art

played as crucial of a role as I believe it to, what were specific characteristics in these art

movements? How did art play a role in determining how others viewed him as a leader?

Anderson, Darran, and Darran Anderson. “How the Bauhaus Kept the Nazis at Bay, Until It

Couldn't.” CityLab, 26 Apr. 2019, www.citylab.com/design/2019/03/walter-gropius-bauhaus-

art-school-nazi-germany-anniversary/583999/. Accessed on 02 Jul. 2019.

This article mainly focused on the short-lived Bauhaus art school that was designed so artists

could freely express themselves and create new, experimental artworks known as avant garde art.

Artists here were encouraged to express themselves and to challenge the norms of art. The

Bauhaus was only open 14 years, but still had a tremendous impact on artwork throughout the

world. Although some students and teachers were forced into exile and internment camps, most

moved across major cities of the world and took their teachings with them.
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The writer’s main purpose of this article was to inform the audience about the success of

the Bauhaus despite its unfortunate fate. Darran addresses the general public and uninformed

citizens of the rise and fall of the Bauhaus and how it influences art of today. This article was

written in April of 2019 and although this may seem irrelevant today, we are still facing much of

the same political debate.

Darran Anderson is an author and writer for CityLab. He wrote a book called Imaginary

Cities and the coming Tidewrack. Imaginary Cities is a nonfiction tale based on Marco Polo’s

explorations and historic cities. His background in historic writing makes him a credible source.

The article’s current date makes it credible and so does the news site it belongs to.

This article gives information on the complete life of the legendary Bauhaus and how it

influenced artists afterwards. This information is critical in answering my questions of how

Hitler influenced art after his reign and how he used his power to destroy leading art movements

to help further his rule. This article also parallels with existing political arguments of today.

Dr. Nausikaä El-Mecky, “Art in Nazi Germany.” Smarthistory, 9 Aug. 2015,

smarthistory.org/art-in-nazi-germany/. Accessed on 05 Jul. 2019.

Dr. Nausikaa El-Mecky talks of the two exhibitions that reflected art culture of 1937

Germany. The Great Exhibition of German Art showed Nazi Germany’s artistic ideals of Aryan

art while the Degenerate Art Exhibition showcased works the National Socialist Party rejected.

The Degenerate works were once glorified, but now laughed at and ridiculed. Degenerate art was

experimental, expressionistic, personal, abstract, and wrong while The Great Exhibition of

German Art showcased classical tradition, heroic figures, and promise of a new country. Many
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people who belonged to Hitler’s party even found beauty in some of the “wrong” works but were

forced to say otherwise.

The writer’s purpose is to educate the audience, which is mostly made up of students and

people interested in art history. Smarthistory is an educational organization which allows people

to learn about art freely.

The writer, Dr. Nausikaa El-Mecky, is a lecturer at a university in Berlin and in the

Netherlands. She has a Ph. D. in History of Art from Cambridge and holds a thesis about

European art. Therefore, she is extremely knowledgeable on the topic of this exhibition.

I will use this information to discuss the values that Germany held in professional

artworks and tell of how their views influenced the minds of others who once looked at

Degenerate artworks highly, but later ridiculed them as if they weren’t of their own.

“Nazi Looted Art.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and

Records Administration, 12 Dec. 2017,

www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2002/summer/nazi-looted-art-1.html. Accessed on

02 Jul. 2019.

This archive tells of how much of the looted artwork taken by Nazis is still lost. The

Holocaust Records Project works to identify, preserve, and describe records from the Allies

about looted artwork. Cubism, expressionism, and impressionism were all styles the Nazis

regarded highly as degenerate art. Around 6,000 pieces were removed and held in salt mines.

Acceptable works included Old Flemish and Dutch masters, medieval and Renaissance artworks,

realist and classical works. Nazis were trained to collect this art to show their loyalty to Hitler
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while some sneakily did not obey. Many valuable pieces of artwork belonged to Jews, which

may have been another reason for Hitler’s extensive art looting.

The writer’s main purpose in writing this piece is to contribute to the archives of the

Holocaust Records Preservation Project and to make others aware of the thousands of artworks

still missing. It is written for government reference and to help organize the archives, which

helps clearly identify the timeline of events that happened during Hitler’s reign. It was written in

2002, which could have been relevant to the situation America was facing with the Middle East.

Anne Rothfeld is an archivist with this government organization and works at the National

Archives and Records Administration. She has access to the archives given by the government,

which allows her to make credible claims about this time.

I am planning on using this information to show how the affects of the Nazi art looting are

still prevalent today. There is also a claim that Hitler was very thorough in his record keeping

and art looting which I think is valuable in determining his character and leadership roles at that

time.

“Propaganda and the Visual Arts in the Third Reich.” Yadvashem.org, Yad Vashem,

www.yadvashem.org/education/educational-materials/lesson-plans/germanys-sculptor.html.

This lesson provides ways for students to study different propaganda techniques used by Nazi

Germany and helps them clarify which artworks Nazi’s accepted and ridiculed. There is a

method to analyzing these cartoons which include examination, reading the handout and

answering questions. The cartoon displayed was published by a right-wing German newspaper.

The artist is a man with Jewish features presenting a chaotic sculpture representing degenerate
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art that Nazis ridiculed. The disappearance of the Jewish man foreshadows the fate of the Jews

and the freedom of expression. Hitler is glorified in this comic and portrays power, authority, and

a promising vision, which is appealing to the audience. Nazis used propaganda to see ideas and

control and shape the public’s opinion. The propaganda technique itself was vital to Hitler’s

success because visual images directly impact people’s perceptions of events since they stand out

and attract the most attention.

The writer’s purpose of this article is to teach students how to recognize propaganda

techniques used during Hitler’s reign so that they may be cognizant of propaganda techniques

used today. The article addresses students and belongs to an organization’s website. Yad Vashem

is a world Holocaust remembrance center and is the main source for Holocaust information,

education, documentation and research.

Although the writer is unnamed, the site remains credible due to its extensive research and

studies. The organization is highly successful and has a museum dedicated to teaching others of

the events leading up to, during, and after the Holocaust. The site does not have unrelated ads

and contains much information regarding its history and mission.

My main use for this article will be to discuss a specific example of propaganda and how it

could shape the audience depending on the context. This site specifically addresses the key

components of a propaganda poster in a step by step format, which allows readers to understand

how artworks played a vital role in determining the success of Adolf Hitler.

Schjeldahl, Peter, and Peter Schjeldahl. “Hitler as Artist.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 20

June 2017, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/08/19/hitler-as-artist. Accessed on 04 Jul.

2019.
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Nazism was shaped by Adolf’s artistic talent. Peter Schjeldahl tells how Hitler himself

changed modern art and even makes us wonder what would have happened if the tyrant had been

accepted into art school. When young Adolf was 18, he failed the Vienna Academy of Art’s

admission test twice and missed many other opportunities. Hitler’s passion for Aryanism and

anti-Semitism contributed to his artistic eagerness as much as his artistic eagerness contributed to

supporting these factors. Hitler’s hatred toward Vienna became a passion and he dreamt of

proving himself as a successful tyrant to the city for his own personal self-satisfaction. Schjedahl

tells of Williamstown, Massachusetts’ exhibit called “Prelude to a Nightmare,” which shows the

artistic culture Hitler was exposed to and later degraded and punished. One may say that beauty

and evil can exist together if we remain vigilant against it, but Schjedahl argues this. He says that

we must remain vigilant against evil altogether and embrace beauty.

Besides addressing Hitler’s artistic journey, he wants to draw attention to the exhibit

“Prelude to a Nightmare.” He wants to address the paths of good and evil and how we must

remain aware of each. He also addresses whether Germany’s fate would have been as gruesome

if Hitler had been accepted as a young man. This article was written in August of 2002, which is

the same time that America was recovering from the 9-11 attacks and considering going into war

with the Middle East. Considering this article is from The New Yorker, which addresses the same

audience who was amid the 9-11 attacks, the writer may be making a broader generalization of

not repeating past mistakes.

The writer is Peter Schjeldahl, a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1998. He is also

the magazine’s art critic and has won awards based on his excellent writing and art historicism.

He has also writing many books regarding art.

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I will attempt to use this piece to explain Hitler’s early encounter with art and how his

unkind welcoming to Vienna influenced his artistic views and thirst for power later. This passage

also tells of the “what ifs” of Nazi Germany and how perhaps if one thing would have been

different, fate could have had a much different outcome in the realm of the universe and art.

Stanska, Zuzanna. “The Story of Unrealized Hitler’s Art Museum in Linz.” Daily Art Magazine,

27 May, 2017, https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/story-hitlers-art-museum/. Accessed on 08

Jul. 2019.

Zuzana Stanska writes of Adolf Hitler’s secret museum located in Linz, his Austrian

hometown. Hitler’s failed admission to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts fed into his distaste

towards Vienna’s strong art program, which fueled his obsession for building an art empire.

Nazis to retrieved artworks of which Hitler paid for himself. The museum and the paintings

inside were to reflect the Neo-Classical style in order to portray the Third Reich as powerful as

the Roman empire, which would later influence the simple, clean, geometrically perfected styles

of architecture across Europe.

Her main purpose in writing this article is to explain Hitler’s obsession and massive

exploration in collecting art. She expresses Hitler as insecure and clinging to his artwork so that

he may prove himself worthy while fulfilling a lifelong dream. If he succeeded in this dream, he

would showcase his dominance and power over Europe rather than the art itself.

Zuzanna Stanska is an art historian and founder of the DailyArtMagazine.com. She is

obviously highly successful and the site itself proves to be trustworthy based off its recent

publishing date of the article and its desire to further education about art history. The site was
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started in 2016 and provides much detailed information from qualified art historians. Although

the cite accepts donations, it does not provide ads that are unrelated to the site.

I will use this in my paper to discuss how Hitler used art as a tool to gain authority over other

countries and his people. He also used this museum as a hobby and a way to prove to others that

he himself is a worthy artist despite his rejection into the Art Academy. During his reign, he

decided the criteria for which art must meet and is a strong influence of how we view art today.