mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
It’s easy to list the differences between Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill, but they had at least one thing in common: art. Along with being the most despicable person in history, Adolf Hitler is well-known as a mediocre and frustrated painter; a trait that Winston Churchill shared as well. We’ve collected a number of their artworks here to see if you can distinguish one from the other. So have at it. And if you have the time, come back and tell us your score. PS: Special thanks to Jenny D. for coming up with the idea for this quiz.
Comments (20)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
6 out of 10 (I am quite embarassed)
Personally, I found Hitler to be the better painter when it came to skill, but I enjoyed the colors used in Churchill’s.
posted by Michaela on 12-7-2007 at 11:26 pm
6 out of 10 as well. Hitler has great detail in his paintings.
posted by Lara r on 12-7-2007 at 11:51 pm
I actually got 9 out of 10 correct. I think I have an edge…there was an exhibit here at LACMA a few years ago of “degenerate art” that Hitler had deemed not appopriate, and it included really HORRID art that he thought was acceptable. Gulag type stuff; you needed a Zoloft to just get through the exhibition.
posted by Karyn on 12-8-2007 at 12:32 am
haha 6 out of 10 here, too.
posted by julie on 12-8-2007 at 12:32 am
Pulled a 90! I remembered that Hitler was an art student, wasn’t sure about Churchill. So I went with the paintings that seemed to have the surest line work and attributed them to Dolf, then just sort of matched the palettes.
posted by Joe Maz on 12-8-2007 at 1:17 am
9 out of 10 here and I have no knowledge of anything pertaining to art.
I am a history education major and I read where he got denied acceptance to art school and seeing a picture of the school, I figured he would be more into architecture so so most of the buildings, I attributed them to Hitler. Churchill was the PM of England so all the boats and watery scenes I attributed to him.
posted by Derek on 12-8-2007 at 1:48 am
Interesting subject, kind of a so-so quiz though. Like you expect Hitler’s paintings to be.. painted cruelly? And Churchill’s to be stoic? LOL One of them used brighter colors to paint with, the other used more muted tones. It was a toss up, so.. ;)
Oh I got a three out of ten so it might be sour grapes too. :D
posted by mrs.djs on 12-8-2007 at 12:07 pm
Totally got a 100%.
just sayin’.
posted by Laura on 12-8-2007 at 12:50 pm
7 out of 10 here! I went with the toss up and matched the colors and styles to the same painter. I thought Churchill would be the architecture painter. Oh well I still had fun.
posted by Tricia on 12-8-2007 at 2:32 pm
I’m with Laura. 10 out of 10. It could easily have been 0 out of 10 if I’d picked the wrong style for Churchill and vice versa…
posted by Erin on 12-8-2007 at 3:50 pm
100%, i just kinda figured hitler wasn’t likely to paint with happy colors..worked out for me.
posted by tami on 12-9-2007 at 12:02 am
i got 100%…i feel proud, but slightly uneasy. but from bios, i read that hitler was obsessed with ideas of structure, neatness, and of course, ideas of elevated class. so i picked the archetectural and indoor pics of beautiful furniture
posted by sarah on 12-9-2007 at 10:52 am
I got 9 out of 10 by following a very simple recipe: Whatever looks like Austria (mountains, must be a Hitler, and what looks like Britain must be a Churchill. I didn’t even bother to compare styles.
posted by Hans on 12-9-2007 at 1:08 pm
8 out of 10
Did it in record time with little thought – purely guesswork based on gut feelings.
posted by Mike on 12-9-2007 at 8:17 pm
8 out of 10
Interesting quiz. I just kind of went with the idea that Hitler’s paintings would be less colorful. The two I debated on are the only two I missed.
posted by Darla on 12-9-2007 at 9:40 pm
You know, I am disturbed to find I like Hitler’s art.
posted by Kristen on 12-9-2007 at 11:49 pm
0/10
That actually makes me feel good as I was able to group the styles correctly, I just attributed them to the wrong “artist”
posted by ryan on 12-10-2007 at 12:03 am
50%… Shows why neither of them was successful at art – couldn’t develop a style.
posted by bigsoda on 12-10-2007 at 12:31 am
90% here, with my logic closely following Derek’s. If you know Hitler’s great love of architecture, you can guess he’d paint a lot of architecture-oriented subjects in a realistic style. Churchill, in contrast, had been First Lord of the Admiraly, so boat & sea themes are going to be a recurring theme. I had also seen one of Churchill’s paintings before and was bale to extrapolate a bit.
As for #18’s Churchill “not being successful” at art, he was actually pretty well received when his paintings were shown (under a pseudonym) in galleries and art shows. He is of course MUCH better known for politics, but he was certainly a good artist and a stunning writer as well (winning a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953). I’ve read both his 6 volume “The Second World War” and his 4 volume “History of the English Speaking Peoples”. These are each enormous works, but well worth the time if you are a history geek like I.
posted by Sid Morrison on 12-10-2007 at 12:32 pm
a followup:
It’s worth noting also that Churchill didn’t even takeup painting until age 40. He was self-dismissive of his capability, but a lot of other artists, critics, &c. were not.
The following article is pretty decent:
http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=815
Oh, in my prior post it should be “Admiralty”, not “Admiraly” :-)
posted by Sid Morrison on 12-10-2007 at 12:39 pm