Anti-Nazi drawing published in the PM newspaper
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 20.000 inches (50.8 cm) | Width: 15.000 inches (38.1 cm)
Creator(s)
- William Sharp (Artist)
Biographical History
Leon Schleifer was born in 1900 in Germany. He served in the German army at the end of World War I (1914-1918). He became a political cartoonist and his work was published in the anti-Nazi press. He also specialized in courtroom trial sketches. After the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor in 1933, Schliefer emigrated to the United States. He changed his name to William Sharp and continued his career as an editorial cartoonist and illustrator. His work was published in the New York Times, Life Magazine, and other publications. He died in 1961, age sixty-one years.
Archival History
The drawing was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1991.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection
Scope and Content
This is probably the most revealing, most pitiless picture of Adolf Hitler ever drawn. William Sharp sketched it in Germany in 1934, long before the world realized how much blood would be shed by Der Fuehrer. Sharp's caption for the picture says: "I saw this man three times in 1931 when he testified at the trial of three of his brutal Storm Troopers for killing an enemy of the Nazis. His eyes looked just like this."
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Graphite and ink on paper. Three-quarter length portrait of Adolf Hitler with severe expression; crosses seen in background; sky above is completely black.
lower right corner, in pencil, "Der Blitzge Hitler" and "10-1/2"; verso, center, in red pencil, "3-7/16 - 8J Screen / Blocked / No pinholes please"; in pencil, "#1649"; upper right corner, in pencil, "36"
People
- Sharp, William, 1900-1961.
Subjects
- Anti-Nazi movement--United States--Political cartoons.
- Newspapers--New York (State)--New York--Political cartoons.
Genre
- Object
- Art