Home Trending June 19 – Happy Birthday, John Heartfield

June 19 – Happy Birthday, John Heartfield

nPostednon June 19, 2015

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nSeeingna name like “John Heartfield,” I would think of annEnglish-speaking country. Britain? Canada, the U.S., maybe NewnZealand?

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nInwould not think, “Ah! I bet he’s a German!”

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nButntoday’s famous birthday was born on this date in 1891 in Berlin,nGermany, to German parents.

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nActually,nhe was born as Helmut Herzfeld. n

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nThenHerzfeld parents were political activists and writers – and theynfaced persecution for their ideas. The family fled Berlin, moved tonSwitzerland, and then had to move again. The result of all thisnfleeing was horrible:

When he was just 7 years old, littlenHelmut Herzfeld and his one brother and two sisters were abandoned innthe woods by their parents.

It’s really hard to find verifiedninfo about what happened next – like, you know, if they allnsurvived, and how – but from what I can see, the Herzfeld kidsnseemed to have ended up with their uncle. Eventually Helmut grew upnto become a bit like his parents – interested in politics andnsocial justice, an activist, someone who protests about the waynthings are and pushes for the way things ought to be.

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nHelmutnstudied art in Munich, and he and his brother started a publishingnhouse in 1917. n

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nAnnanti-British movement was gaining force in Germany. People werenchanting, “Gott strafe England!” in the streets – meaning “MaynGod punish England!” – and getting really pro-German /nnationalistic / crazy. It was in protest to this that HelmutnHerzfield changed his name to its English equivalent: JohnnHeartfield.

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nHeartfieldnbegan to use his art as a way of protesting about politicalnshenanigans and fascism. Along with fellow artist George Grosz, henpretty much invented photomontages – which are pieces created byncutting out and pasting together various photos. (They are a type ofncollage, but basically only using photos.) n

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nHeartfieldnbecame active in the Dada art movement, which ridiculed traditionalnart as unimportant, even shallow. Heartfield built theater sets andnproduced book jackets. He helped start a satirical magazine, and hisnpolitical photomontages were often published.

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nInguess that you can imagine that Heartfield’s anti-fascism art was notnpopular with fascist Nazis – so when the Nazi Power gained power,nHeartfield had to flee. Like, quickly: the SS broke into hisnapartment, and Heartfield had to escape by jumping off of his balconynand then running and walking over some mountains to Czechoslovakia. n

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nHeartfieldnkept making photomontages. He kept criticizing the Nazis. He keptnfighting back with his political artwork.

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nEventuallynthe Nazis took over Czechoslovakia, and Heartfield had to runnagain—this time to England. n

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nAfternthe war, Heartfield returned to live in Berlin – but of course, nownGermany and Berlin were divided by the so-called Iron Curtain, intonCommunist East Germany and East Berlin and democratic West German andnWest Berlin. Heartfield chose to move to East Berlin, although he metnwith a lot of mistrust because of the number of years he lived innEngland. Finally, about a decade after the war, he was formallynadmitted to the Academy of Arts. n

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  • Checknout some of Heartfield’s work here
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Here you can see the 2000 album cover by
rock group System of a Down (above)
and a World War II art piece by
Heartfield (below). Heartfield’s piece also
inspired some of System’s lyrics!

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  • Find some photomontages you like. Here are some that I like:
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  • Trynyour hand at making photo montages
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  • MichaelnOwens has created a checklist of sorts for how to make artnabout political ideas. 
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nAlsonon this date:

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National Flip-Flop Day 

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nMathematician Blaise Pascal’s birthdayn

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nWorldnSauntering Day

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nGarfieldnthe Cat Day

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nJuneteenth

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nBaseballnplayer Lou Gehrig’s birthday

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nAnniversarynof the opening of the first movie theater

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nPlannahead:

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Checknout my Pinterest boards for:

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  • nJunen holidays

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  • nJunen birthdays

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  • nHistoricaln anniversaries in June

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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:

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  • nJulyn holidays

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  • nJulyn birthdays

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  • nHistoricaln anniversaries in July

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