.008 [omfg]

John Heartfeild.

Adolf, the Superman, Swallows Gold and Spouts Tin, 1932

John Heartfeild is a German artist, whose main work protested the Nazi army and its leader, Adolf Hitler. After looking at his work and researching his life, I found some interesting tidbits, like the fact that his name was really Helmut [just a slight change from John, right?], and the fact that he grew up in the aftermath of WWI. The Second World War, and the Nazi army inspired most of his photomontage work. Eventually, Heartfeild was kicked out of Germany for his controversial work, and he moved to England to continue to spread his message through art.

The first thing that interested me about my artist was all the titles of his photomontages. This particular piece is called, “Adof, the Superman, Swallows Gold and Spits Tin.” This title caught my eye, and when I looked at the work of art I was happy to find that I could make sense of it. I chose to analyze this particular piece because it really made me wonder about its meaning. The image of Hitler with his usual expression juxtaposed with an internal view of his ribs, swastika heart, and coins was really intriguing. The work is a depiction of Hitler, shown with an internal view of the “gold” he “swallowed”. I was then able to infer that the “spitting tin” part of the title meant that Hitler took all the good, and gave bad in return.

The positive/negative space relationship really works for this piece because it is so bold that it really draws the viewer in. The colors of the image are also really interesting. The image is a sepia tone, which makes it resemble a photograph even more. I also like how the title of the piece helps the viewer understand [possibly] the artist’s intent.

Just like Andy Warhol’s pop art, this piece shows a noted [notorious] character, with a different spin on his image.

This particular piece is so successful because it mixes a message that people can relate to with a really well-done art style that is both unique and interesting to look at. This piece encouraged me to look at the rest of John Heartfeild’s work, and hopefully it will inspire others to do the same.

<3>