*JOHN HEARTFIELD* (ALEMANIA, 1891-1968)

John Heartfield (9 de junio de 1891 - 26 de abril de 1968).

Artista alemán del período dadaísta, especializado en el fotomontaje.

Su nombre real era Helmut Herzfeld. Vivió una infancia poco común (fue abandonado por sus padres) y mostró desde muy pronto un raro talento artístico. Durante la Primera Guerra Mundial, se vio obligado a alistarse en el ejército (aunque luego lo abandonó, fingiendo una depresión nerviosa). Fue en este momento cuando, a modo de protesta, cambió su nombre por el de John Heartfield.

Al finalizar la guerra, Heartfield se unió al grupo Dadá, así como al Partido Comunista. A partir de este momento, el trabajo del artista alemán tendría una gran carga de denuncia política (fue muy crítico con la República de Weimar, al igual que su amigo Bertolt Brecht). Cada vez más implicado en el terreno del fotomontaje, trabajó en revistas ilustradas. Durante 1930 y 1931, viajó por la Unión Soviética.

Cuando el régimen de Hitler se estableció en Alemania, Heartfield huyó a Checoslovaquia. Fue durante el período de la Segunda Guerra Mundial cuando su trabajo resultó más productivo y más representativo de su personalidad como artista. La mayoría del arte de Heartfield es una crítica satírica al Tercer Reich, y en particular a la figura de Adolf Hitler (una de sus obras más conocidas es "Adolf, el superhombre, traga oro y vomita basura"). Asimismo, condenó el antisemitismo y la sociedad industrial capitalista. ("El capitalismo les está robando su última pieza de pan", "La conquista de las máquinas").

No volvió a su país natal hasta 1948 (a Leipzig, en la República Democrática Alemana). Desempeñó trabajos de profesor universitario y fundó su propia editorial. Para entonces, ya estaba gravemente enfermo. Fue durante la década de los cincuenta, y en Alemania del Este, cuando su obra fue realmente reconocida por el público.

Heartfield continuó en activo durante varios años, viajando regularmente a China (donde rodaría su primera película, una obra autobiográfica), y comisariando algunas exposiciones propias. Su mano aparece en la portada del primer disco de la banda System of a Down.

.TRASLATION.

John Heartfield (19 June 1891, Berlin – 26 April 1968, East Berlin) 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 an 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), the latter of which published the works for which Heartfield is best remembered.

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, living in Hampstead. 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 1967 he visited Britain and began preparing a retrospective exhibition of his work, "photomontages", which was subsequently completed by his widow Gertrude and the Deutsche Akademie der Künste, and shown at the ICA in London in 1969.

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


Works

Grave of John Heartfield in BerlinHis 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 entitled Hurrah, die Butter ist Alle! (English: Hurray, the butter is gone!) 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 Göring during food shortage. Translated, the quote reads: "Iron has always made a nation strong, butter and lard have only made the people fat".



Homages in modern culture


Hurrah, die Butter ist Alle! served as the inspiration behind the song "Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)" by Siouxsie and the Banshees; the song was re-recorded in German and released as a single with Heartfield's work as the cover art.

The Swiss darkwave band Mittageisen (1981-1986) called themselves after John Heartfield's photomontage Hurrah, die Butter ist Alle!.

The band Blurt recorded a song called "Hurrah! Die Butter Ist Alle" on their 1986 album "Poppycock".

The Heartfield piece The Hand has 5 Fingers with its original text: "5 fingers make a hand! With these 5 grab the enemy!", was referenced by alternative metal band System of a Down. A text printed on the back of the album System of a Down reads: "The hand has five fingers, capable and powerful, with the ability to destroy as well as create". It should be noted however that this concept is not confined to Heartfield's work and is present, for example, in the symbolism of the raised fist.

The British crust punk band Discharge used Heartfield's work "Peace and Fascism" for the cover artwork of their compilation "Never Again".

Laibach, a Slovenian avant-garde act, often admits being influenced by Heartfield's art. They have recorded the song Herzfelde, apparently named after him.