3. Adolf Hitler
Possibly more alienated artist than outsider artist, Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi party in Germany in the years leading up to and during World War II – and unfortunately for the rest of the world was also a painter of – ironically – some of the blandest works ever created by man. Rejected from the Vienna Academy of Art and before his climb to power, the tortured artist produced hundreds of artworks and sold his paintings and postcards to try to earn a living during his Vienna years (1908–1913). Unsurprisingly he was not successful. A number of his paintings were recovered after World War II and have sold at auction for many thousands of dollars. Others were seized by the U.S. Army and were held by the U.S. government, probably to be dropped over Germany to lower post-war morale.