Is buying or selling Hitler's artwork immoral?
At the Weidler auction house in Nuremberg, a collection of 14 works sold for $440,000 last weekend 鈥� not for the quality of the art, but for the infamy of the artist.
The collection of drawings and watercolor paintings 鈥� dated between 1904 and 1922 and depicting castles, flowers, and nude women 鈥� was the work of Adolf Hitler. Though experts admitted the works were artistically unimpressive, Weidler said bids came in from China, France, Brazil, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates,
Specific details about the bidders are unknown, but auctioneer Katherin Weidler reportedly told German news wire Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 鈥淭hese collectors do not specialize in this painter, but have a general interest in high-value art.鈥�
Controversy over the sale of Hitler's artwork is fueled by the questionable morality of profiting from the artwork of the man responsible for the Holocaust, mainly because the majority of proceeds from the sales are going to private sellers, rather than to charity.
Not that charities would likely accept the money. The auction house has said it plans on donating a portion of its 20 percent commission to charity, When another Hitler painting was sold last November, auction house head Herbert Weidler made a similar promise, saying that if no one accepted the donation he would give the money to a local civic preservation society, the Alstadtfreunde N眉rnberg. However, that organization鈥檚 chairman 鈥渢old local media that he had no intention of taking it,鈥� according to The Guardian.
鈥淔ew in Germany want to be seen making a profit from the Nazi dictator鈥檚 work,鈥� The Guardian reported. The Bavarian state archive, for example, does not buy Hitler鈥檚 pieces but does accept them as donations for the purpose of removing them from circulation.
Despite widespread uneasiness about the ethics of such sales, nothing in the law prohibits the sale of Hitler鈥檚 artwork. As long as the work does not contain Nazi symbols, DPA reported, Germany allows it to be sold.
Ethics in the art trade have come into the spotlight in a few other recent cases, as well. Earlier this month, two women protested the sale of Native American Hopi dolls in Paris, One of the protesters said, "I'm against cultural genocide ... These are sacred objects that were stolen from people and should be returned to those people."
In April, 450 items were in Lawrenceville, N.J. after public protest. The items had been crafted by interned Japanese Americans during World War II, and many had been given to historian Allen H. Eaton 鈥渇or the purposes of educating the public about the Japanese American experience during World War II,鈥� protesters claimed.
And last October, Sotheby鈥檚 an Egon Schiele painting belonging to Fritz Grunbaum, who died in the Dachau concentration camp and whose art collection was allegedly looted by Nazis.
Before Hitler became the leader of Germany鈥檚 Third Reich and one of the most infamous figures in history, it is well known that he was rejected multiple times from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. He is believed to have left as many as 700 works behind by the time he committed suicide in 1945,
While many have pointed to Hitler鈥檚 love of art as indication of a softer side, inconsistent with the one the world saw, historian Birgit Schwarz in 2009 that it was all a part of his dangerously inflated self-perception.
鈥淗is love of art led directly into the heart of evil,鈥� she said. 鈥淗is fanatical pursuit of his own cause, and his self-image as a genius, contributed to his powers of persuasion and, therefore, his success.鈥�
