DBWI: Hitler is Rejected from Art School!

[Will Kürlich Kerl]

The famous Austrian-born artist, who spent most of his adult life alternating between Vienna and Paris, painted over two hundred paintings, almost half of them famous throughout Europe, North America, and even Japan. He was regarded as one of the most influential voices in preventing the Balkan Crisis from expanding to a war that encompasses the entire European continent, as to not jeopardize his occupation. He also was a major factor in the strengthening of Franco-Austrian ties: because he was very famous, and he championed Austrian unification with Germany (even though he lived in Vienna and Paris), the Austrians took special precautions, including renewing ties with France that haven't existed for 50 years.

Many painters have been influenced by him, including Paul Klee, Paul J. Pollock, Barnett Newman, George Grosz, Marcel Duchamp, and Osamu Tezuka.

Now, what would happen if the art school he went to early in his career somehow rejected him? How does this affect both modern art and world events?

 

[A Random Person]

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=271639

 

[Will Kürlich Kerl]

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=271639

OOC: I know, this thread was inspired by that other thread, but I wanted different circumstances from the ones given by the OP and the others. That is why I started another one.

 

[ArKhan]

Fuck Hitler. He was an ignorate racist anti-semetic bastard with Fascist political leanings, and his art was highly over-rated.

 

[Will Kürlich Kerl]

Fuck Hitler. He was an ignorate racist anti-semetic bastard with Fascist political leanings, and his art was highly over-rated.

he wasn't that ignorant. Back then, many people in the United States and the World were still anti-Semetic. Most notable was Henry Ford. At a time where about half the population of the United States and Europe were somewhat anti-semetic, it isn't unusual for Hitler to posses such ideas. Besides, the KKK in the late 1910s and early 1920s was way more racist and anti-semetic than Hitler ever was. And he might have had Fascist political leanings for a bit of time, but he soon gravitated back into the center.

 

[ColeMercury]

I don't know much about Hitler, really -- I've only heard the name before but haven't actually seen any of the paintings before now* -- but if he was a Fascist-sympathiser then perhaps he moves to Italy?

* I've just checked out some pictures of them online. Quite like the landscapes and the buildings but honestly don't think much of the portraits: they're a bit uncanny-valleyish. Sorry for offending any Hitler fans who may be reading.

 

[imperialaquila]

Eh, I always thought Hitler was overrated. He was much better at self-promotion and public attention-whoring than he was at actual painting, IMO. Rather similar to Dali, now that I think about it. I mean, yes, he was a rather public voice for peace in the Balkan Crisis, and he deserves props for that. But for every time he used his publicity for things like the Balkan Crisis and Franco-Austrian ties, he pulled four or five stunts like that infamous speech to the World Jewish Congress, which oh-so-conveniently coincided with a release of a new set of paintings...

EDIT: To address the OP, if he didn't go into art, maybe he would become an actor? He certainly had the charisma and personality for it, and talkies were starting to become big around that time.

 

[DrakonFin]

EDIT: To address the OP, if he didn't go into art, maybe he would become an actor? He certainly had the charisma and personality for it, and talkies were starting to become big around that time.

That certainly is an intriguing idea. He could have made something of a career for himself in German films of the 20s and 30s. It is well-known Hitler had a fascination for the cinema. It would not be such a stretch to have him working for Fritz Lang, for example. The men after all share their Viennese background and we know they studied at the same time at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Maybe in some timeline Hitler might be known as Germany's darker, brooding answer to Charlie Chaplin. I mean they certainly share some resemblance and many of you must know Hitler's The Little Tramp, one of the MoMA -held paintings from his Limelight series.



OOC: In fact, study-wise Lang was something of an anti-Hitler. He started studying architecture, got bored, applied to the Fine Arts Academy and was accepted. Hitler, on the other hand, was rejected by the Academy and it was suggested architecture would suit his talents more...

 

[Bernard Woolley]

I believe he was quite interested in politics. Might he have become a politician? That said I imagine he would have been nothing but a footnote to history, rather than the well known artist he is today.