DEDICATION DISCLAIMER


The origin of the “Aryan Beauty” dedication page in this book comes from a female friend of mine that urged me to write a book on the history of National Socialist Art which would have included all the major and lesser-known artists favored by the NSDAP as well as clips from Leni Riefenstahl’s film works and the monumental sculptures found in the Haus der deutschen Kunst (House of German Art) located in Munich.

 



Leni Riefenstahl







Haus der deutscher Kunst, 1937




“Die Kunst im deutschen Reich” Magazine, 1939

 

 

Much of the Nazi passion for art in the 1930s-40s was directed at physical beauty in three forms:

 

A) that of the ideal Nazi racially-pure, physically strong and intelligent men and women, like this BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädel) girl:







B) the Nazi passion for nudes

Leni Riefenstahl’s “Olympia” Image, 1936

 

 

 

Popular Aryan Woman painting

 

 

 

Ernst Liebermann art

 

 

 

Ivo Saliger art

 

 

Various “Pure German” Aryan ideal nudes of men and women

 

 







         


 
 
 
 
 
 

And…

 

C) War art of Arno Brecker based largely on the Greek Gods

 

 



Brecker nude male Aryan statues were typically placed at sites of Nazi monumental architecture




Famous Brecker “Sacrifice” war art inspired by the Greek Spartan warriors that often fought in battle nude




Another Brecker Aryan male ideal statue

While the art idea was intriguing, it was not my desire to pursue this type of work which would have been highly subjective material. I chose instead to develop my “Strange Vehicles of Pre-War Germany & the Third Reich (1928-1945)” and only created the dedication page to honor both my friend’s original request as well as her support for trying to develop a second book after I had just finished completing “Disc Aircraft of the Third Reich (1922-1945 and Beyond)” in 2005.

 

The two photos and one painting I chose for that page are a mix of the 1940’s Aryan ideal as depicted by the SS blonde female contrasted against the modern color photo of a blonde Nazi girl of the 2000’s. The painting below them is from the Third Reich and serves as a moderator between the contrasting controversial photos of German Aryan beauty mixed with war vs. German Aryan beauty mixed with political and religious beliefs. The painting reflects a happy medium in my opinion and was given the satisfied approved of my female friend.


That does not suggest that I support her views, only her interest in exploring National Socialist art development from the 1940s-2000s.

 

“Aryan Beauty Past & Present” was to be the title of the art book, not a tribute to Nazi Aryan ideology.

 

Robert Dale Arndt Jr.