From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Self-portrait, 1920

Grave of John Heartfield in Berlin

John Heartfield (June 19, 1891–April 26, 1968) is the anglicized name of the German photomontage artist Helmut Herzfeld. He chose to call himself Heartfield in 1916, to criticize the rabid nationalism and anti-British sentiment prevalent in Germany during World War I.

In 1918 Heartfield began at the Berlin Dada scene, and the Communist Party of Germany. He was dismissed from the Reichswehr film service on account of his support for the strike that followed the assassination of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. With George Grosz, he founded Die Pleite, a satirical magazine. After meeting Bertolt Brecht, who was to have a profound influence on his art, Heartfield developed photomontage into a form of political and artistic representation. He worked for two communist publications - the daily Die Rote Fahne, and the weekly Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung (AIZ).

In 1933, after the National Socialists came to power in Germany, Heartfield relocated to Czechoslovakia, where he continued his photomontage work for the AIZ (which was published in exile); in 1938, fearing a German takeover of his host country, he left for England. He settled in East Germany and Berlin after World War II, in 1954, and worked closely with theater directors such as Benno Besson and Wolfgang Langhoff at Berliner Ensemble and Deutsches Theater.

In 2005, Tate Britain held an exhibition of his photomontage pieces.

Der Sinn des Hitlergrusses (The real meaning of the Hitler salute) Kleiner Mann bittet um grosse Gaben (The little man asks for big gifts) Millionen stehen hinter mir! (I've got millions standing behind me)

His photomontages satirising Adolf Hitler and the Nazis often subverted Nazi symbols such as the swastika in order to undermine their propaganda message.

One of his more famous pieces, made in 1935, is entitled Hurrah, die Butter ist Alle! ("Hurray, The Butter is Finished!") It was published on the frontpage of the AIZ in 1935. A parody of the aesthetics of propaganda, the photomontage shows a family at a kitchen table, where a nearby portrait of Hitler hangs and the wallpaper is emblazoned with swastikas. The family — mother, father, old woman, young man, baby, and dog — are attempting to eat pieces of metal, such as chains, bicycle handlebars, and rifles. Below, the title is written in large letters, in addition to a quote by Hermann Goering during food shortages.

System of a Down (album) cover, inspired by The Hand has 5 Fingers by Heartfield that suggested he used his art to support his own political beliefs and to attack the Nazi party

Translated, the quote reads: "Iron has always made a nation strong, butter and lard have only made the people fat". This image also served as the inspiration behind the song "Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)" by Siouxsie & the Banshees; the song was re-recorded in German and released as a single with Heartfield's work as the cover art.

Also, his piece The Hand has 5 Fingers inspired [alternative metal] band System of a Down self-titled album cover. The text in the original poster is: "5 fingers make a hand! With these 5 grab the enemy!". This slogan inspired part of the text contained on the back of System of a Down (album): "The hand has five fingers, capable and powerful, with the ability to destroy as well as create". Later, it is written in bold letters: Open your eyes, open your mouths, close your hands and make a fist.

• Towson University Heartfield's Online Art
• Brasscheck Heartfield versus Hitler