The Extraordinary Anti-Nazi Photomontages of John Heartfield
How the photomontage art of John Heartfield, a contemporary and friend of Brecht, warned the world of the rise of Hitler and Nazism. In the fight against sophisticated Nazi propaganda, Heartfield showed the Nazi regime in its true light.
In the 1930s the Nazis were gaining ground in Europe. Many chose to ignore or had a laissez faire attitude to the National Socialist policy of expansionism, known as Lebensraum or the threat of war that Germany now posed to the world. John Heartfield (above center, in 1960), a German citizen, was one who chose to criticize the regime through art and he produced a remarkable series of photomongages, the audacity of which still has the capacity to astonishe today.
Blood and Iron
Bismarck had stated that the German people would be reformed through a combination of blood and iron. Heartfield’s 1939 photomontage shows exactly how this was to be interpreted in reality. Heartfield had always been a reactionary when it came to German nationalism. Born in 1891 as Helmut Herzfeld he saw the horrors of the First World War first hand. Although propaganda was rife and rabid on both sides he made the extraordinary move of anglicizing his name in 1916, in the middle of the war, to protest against such nationalism.
Kaiser Adolf
The real motive for Hitler’s stranglehold on political power in the thirties was something that was utterly transparent to Heartfield. Here, he gives Hitler the Emperor’s old clothes and upturned moustache to reveal that power had simply changed hands and nothing had changed in democratic terms. As a left wing socialist, Heartfield was diametrically opposed to the right wing National Socialism (Nazism) that swept Germany. It was after founding a satirical magazine, Die Pleite, that he met Brecht. Later he would work for the weekly AIZ (published in exile, of course, this sort of thing would never have been allowed inside The Fatherland). It was for AIZ that he produced most of his photomontage work.
Hitler Prepares to Kill the French Cockerel
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43 Comments
Rana Sinha, posted this comment on May 10th, 2009
Great article RJ. I wonder what he would have thought of the world now!
Briana, posted this comment on May 10th, 2009
Those are powerful statements and they still make an impact. More of his artwork at http://www.towson.edu/heartfield/artarchive.html
frank horton, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
it is not well known but there was an entire generation of German artists and news paper men that saw the danger of Herr Hitler and tried to warn against the danger on the future horizon. the real wonder is mister Heartfield was not killed with the rest. Amazing and wonderful that his art survived those years.
Will @ A Journey Round My Skull, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Great stuff.
This book needs to be reprinted:
http://ajourneyroundmyskull.blogspot.com/2008/06/kurt-tucholsky-deutschland-deutschland.html
It includes many collages by Heartfield.
Manduh, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
never heard of this artist until now. thank you. i love what these pieces show, it explains so much without having to speak a word.
Andrew, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
For those interested, MOMA held a retrospective in 1993, which I was lucky enough to see. Afterwards I purchased the large format book that accompanied the exhibition. It’s full of dozens of images, and 8 or 9 essays. The books details are:
John Heartfield
Harry N Abrams, Inc Publishers
New York
1992
ISBN 0 8109 3413 2
iflajsig, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Verry sad…correct statement of the artist would nopt change the history, verry verry sad….
John Brown, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Thank you for this very interesting piece. Had the pleasure of citing it in my “Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review.”
http://publicdiplomacypressandblogreview.blogspot.com/2009/05/may-11.html
Ray Trygstad, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Very powerful and perceptive art. A pity he could not recognize that ANY regime that suppresses freedom of thought and speech is evil–i.e. the DDR.
Paola Hernandez, posted this comment on May 11th, 2009
Wonderful art It’s amazing the talent of an artist and what he can transmit
mcdaidusa, posted this comment on May 13th, 2009
I hope to live long enough to see the same commemoration of artists in America that opposed Bush and Co. and held-off the conversion of the USA into a fascist state. Green Day’s “American Idiot” comes to mind, though there are so many others….
kourosh, posted this comment on May 13th, 2009
very good image!!!!!!
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natalie, posted this comment on May 15th, 2009
brilliant, and way better than photoshop
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David M., posted this comment on Feb 22nd, 2010
I think a point of clarity needs to be made about Heartfield’s frame of reference… he was not, as the writer says, simply a “left wing socialist.” Heartfield was a full-on communist or “Bolshevik” as Hitler would probably have called him. And I think it is a bit outmoded at this point to refer to the Nazis as a “right wing” movement. By definition, any big-government socialist system is left wing in nature. Were there some aspects of Nazism that seemed to appeal to right wing ideals? Yes, but those do not negate the fundamentally leftist nature of the Nazi program. Just because Nazism was not Marxist in its ideological underpinnings does not make it “right wing.” For more on this, take a look at the book “Liberal Facism” by Jonah Goldberg.
C Jordan, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
A clever use of art to make a political statement
I was not awatre of this artist, thanks RJ
Glynis Smy, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
I ditto Chris. I had not seen any of these before nor had I heard of the artist. The butter one is my ‘favourite’. Thanks for a quality read. Thumbs up.
Joe Dorish, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Had not heard of John Heartfield before this article either but like his work. Thanks for this and Thumbs Up from me too.
CHAN LEE PENG, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
I found the pictures very funny especially the sixth one. I haven’t heard this man, John Heartfield before, but I think he was such a clever man “to soap” a political motive.
Judy T Lloyd, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Extraordinary warnings. Perhaps we should pay more attention to art.
Anne McNew, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
I found again another great article of yours RJ. very informative.
Lisa Clayton Williams, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Interesting article!
Bill M. Tracer, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Well written, R. J.
An artist well worth the attention you give.
twopenneth, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
a very informative post. thank you for this rj. here in the netherlands, the nazi really left an ugly mark but fortunately the dutch doesnt hate the germans that much anymore
Betty Carew, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Awesome article RJ I really enjoyed reading this.
s hayes, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Wow ! stunning images – great article
charlotter789, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
very intresting
Mark Bentley, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Wow, some really interesting images. Well ahead of his time.
I have also added this to Reddit for you.
t simon, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
a very impressive collection. It makes me think how adversity can bring out the best in gifted artists.
Rajiv Sighamony, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
In fact, I never heard about John heartfield and his art. thanks for letting me know.
Mr Ghaz, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Fantastic! ..thats really amaze me..Great post!..wonderful and well presented article about Anti-Nazi..LOV it..a must read article..well done and thanx for sharing
Patrick Bernauw, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
This was completely new to me! Great job!
hiho, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
I’ll always remember two explicit but true-life images that would probably be censored here: (1) A man in Auschwitz who had been shot on a barbed wire fence and was left to hang there; (2) A mass grave at Bergen-Belsen…thankyou for posting this wonderful article about a German man who opposed Hitler and his murderous regime.
Mama Heartfilled, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Very interesting view of Hitler’s evil!
CutestPrincess, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
the author always published satisfying article… excellent!
Mark Gordon Brown, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Always a shame when a great artist is only valued too late.
B Nelson, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Awesome link R J! This guy was ahead of his time
postpunkpixie, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010
Those are great! I love this kind of thing… subverting old pictures into something new and clever, but looks like this guy was in there way before Banksy and his like.
Leonardo da Vinci E., posted this comment on Apr 11th, 2010
Obviously you are writing about a hero to life. I’m glad he was able to live a full life…so many hero’s of that time did not. You are a special person yourself for keeping the memory alive.
rose, posted this comment on Apr 15th, 2010
after viewing John heartfield’s work, I have now taking two ordinary household items and turning them into images of political comment.
One uses a recycling bin that symbolises one policital parties’s attempt to present a carbon ley proposal to the australian federal government. The bin represent the salvaging the scheme with an encouraging financial carrot for various parts of the community.
The other uses a light bulb to represent the coming of high eletrecity prices that will affect various groups in the australian community.
Juancav, posted this comment on May 10th, 2009
Creative anti-nazi advises,well researched.