The Dissident, Part 3
Paris, France, 2025
John Heartfield "used photography as a weapon". This phrase underlines the artist's faith in the impact of this new medium and its ability to denounce the perversities of the modern world: fascism, war and its atrocities, Nazism or capitalism.With the election of Hitler in 1933, John Heartfield was pursued by the Gestapo. He flees (on foot) to the Czech Republic where he continues to create leftist photomontages and exhibits this work. He draws additional wrath from the Third Reich, which demands that his works be taken down, especially the one of Hitler 'Superman'. The Czech Republic resists the political directives in Germany. The censorship by the Third Reich increases the number of visitors but also increases the tension ultimately forcing the removal of the works. The French artist Paul Signac then offers to exhibit Heartfield's works in France, supported by the Association of Revolutionary Writers and Artists. The Gestapo demands that Heartfield be transferred back to Germany where he escapes to England, this time in 1938 where he continues to work and exhibit. When England goes to war with Germany in 1940, he is imprisoned there for several months as a political refugee along with a number of other artists fleeing persecution for their opposition to Hitler's regime.
#WWII #JohnHeartfield #dissidentartists #extinctionrebellion #artandpolitics #theresistance #germany
