Was Holocaust Museum Shooter, James von Brunn, a Frustrated Artist?

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Update: More paintings of James von Brunn have surfaced on the internet.

“It upsets me that I find his painting clever, interesting and well composed.” Comment left on Gawker.com.

It goes without saying, but I will say it anyway, the shooting at the Holocaust Museum by White Supremacist, James von Brunn, is a tragedy. It’s interesting, however, that many in the media are already referring to von Brunn as a “frustrated artist,” without any explanation or evidence to prove the statement. Generally the term frustrated artist is used to denigrate an artist and his or her work. No one can deny that von Brunn is a racist, however, as an art lover I question the use of the term “frustrated artist” in reference to James von Brunn.

I am an admirer of Winston Churchill. Years ago his art was on display at the New York State Museum in Albany, and I went to see it. Churchill was not a great painter, but I was fascinated by his art because I admired the man. He wrote and interesting little book called “Painting as a Pastime.”

No one has ever called Winston Churchill a frustrated or failed painter as they have James von Brunn and his hero, Adolf Hitler. If von Brunn and Hitler were admirable people, we would say they painting was an avocation or hobby of theirs as we do with Churchill, but we would not denigrate their artwork.

So far only one example of von Brunn’s artwork has been located on the internet. Here it is.

If one lays aside his or her negative feelings about von Brunn, one has to admit that this is a decent work of art. The Madame Pickwick Art Blog said, “The painting is not original but is certainly not mediocre.” Even Gawker admits as much, saying:

As we mentioned, Von Brunn was a painter. Just like Hitler! But the one example of his work that we have (which is no longer for sale at AskArt.com) is, uh, interesting. It is a amalgam of Fragonard’s The Reader and Picasso’s Woman With a Book. A clever recontexulaization of classics by Renaissance and Modernist masters! By a 89-year-old White Supremacist who just killed a man at the Holocaust Museum!

So why was von Brunn supposedly a frustrated artist? Maybe because he had a hard time getting galleries to show his work. According to an AP story:

Von Brunn applied to have his art shown at the Troika Gallery in Easton, Md., around the time the gallery opened about 12 years ago, two of the owners, Laura Era and Jennifer Wharton, told The Associated Press. They said they turned him down because it was not up to their quality and that made von Brunn angry.

“He stomped out,” Wharton said. “You don’t normally get that reaction from artists.”

They say his work was not strange or violent, but the artists they show have many years of professional experience.

Era and Wharton said they had heard that von Brunn had been in jail because of his political beliefs and knew that he had prejudices. They did not feel comfortable around him, but said they didn’t want to make him an enemy.

One wonders if the owners of the Troika Gallery are telling the truth as to why they turned down von Brunn. I for one wonder if it had more to do with political correctness than the quality of von Brunn’s work.

Most of the works being shown now at the Troika Gallery are good, but they are very staid and conservative. None of them are post-modern like James von Brunn’s work. Art is somewhat a matter of taste, but it seems to me that von Brunn’s painting above is a least as good as most of the paintings now hanging in the Troika Gallery and better than many.

The following example of the work by Laura Era, one of the owners of the Troika Gallery in Easton, Maryland is not particularly good, although some of her other work is better. Certainly, James von Brunn’s work above is better.

Wine Cheese and Bread. Copyright Laura Era.

James von Brunn did an evil thing when he killed a guard at the Holocaust Museum. No one should try to minimize that. But whatever he is as a human being, it does not detract from his art work.

James von Brunn is an evil person, but he is a good artist.

Postscript: For an interesting take on Nazism and Art, watch The Architecture of Doom by Peter Cohen.

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