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Why did Adolf Hitler want to become an artist?

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Portrait of Adolf Hitler in a collared shirt and tie, facing forward with a serious expression, circa 1933. — Adolf Hitler Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, c. 1933.

Adolf Hitler’s desire to become an artist stemmed from his personal interest in the field and his belief that he possessed the necessary faculties for it. After leaving school, he spent time in Vienna and Linz pursuing this ambition.1

Despite his aspirations, Hitler failed to gain entry to the Academy of Fine Arts on two separate occasions. Following these rejections, he lived a period of isolation in Vienna, earning a precarious living by painting postcards and advertisements while drifting between municipal hostels. While his career as an artist was unsuccessful, his interest in art persisted throughout his life, eventually manifesting in his role as a critic of modern art movements and his systematic looting of artworks during World War II to fill a planned museum in Linz.12