Failed Artist

That painting is a watercolor by Adolf Hitler.

I have been searching for a particular photograph I saw at the museum and happened to find out that Hitler was a rejected artist.

I read that in 1907, age 18, Hitler moved to Vienna, and tried to enter the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts to fulfill his dream of becoming a painter.

To his surprise, he failed entrance with this explanation:

"The following took the test with insufficient results, or were not admitted... Adolf Hitler, Braunau a. Inn, April 20, 1989, German, Catholic. Father civil servant. 4 classes in High School. Few Heads. Test drawing unsatisfactory.

Not to be dissuaded, he tried again, but failed even admission to the test, and in Mein Kamph Hitler explained:

"That gentleman assured me that the drawings I had submitted incontrovertibly showed my unfitness for painting, and that my ability obviously lay in the field of architecture; for me, he said, the Academy's School of Painting was out of the question, the place for me was at the School of Architecture."