Background
John Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfeld) was born on June 19, 1891 in Berlin, Germany. His father was Franz Herzfeld, a socialist writer, and his mother was Alice (née Stolzenburg), a textile worker and political activist.
Grave of John Heartfield in Berlin
John Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfeld) was born on June 19, 1891 in Berlin, Germany. His father was Franz Herzfeld, a socialist writer, and his mother was Alice (née Stolzenburg), a textile worker and political activist.
In 1908, John Heartfield studied art in Munich at the Royal Bavarian Arts (1907-1910) and Crafts School (1912-1914).
First working as a commercial artist for a paper manufacturer in Mannheim (1911-1912), John Heartfield served in the military from 1912 to 1914.
With his brother Wieland Herzfelde, he established the publishing house Malik Verlag and the periodical Neue fugend (ca. 1917), both catering to left-wing artists and writers. He co-edited the satirical magazines Jedermann sein eigener Fuss ball and Die Pleite with his brother and artist George Grosz, and with Grosz and Raoul Hausmann he edited Dada 3 (1919-1920).
From 1921 to 1923 John Heartfield was the scenic director for Max Reinhardt in Berlin and from 1923 to 1927 he edited the satirical magazine Der Knüppel. He designed covers for and contributed to Arbeiter-lllustrierten-Zeitung (AIZ) in Berlin in 1929-1933 and in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1933-1938. John Heartfield moved to Prague for political reasons, then emigrated to London in 1938, and was finally able to return to Germany in 1950. While an expatriate he designed book covers and illustrations, work he continued in his homeland, along with the design of posters and theatrical scenery. In 1960 John Heartfield became a professor at Deutsche Akademie der Kunst.
Following a lifelong history of illness, John Heartfield died on 26 April 1968 in East Berlin, East Germany. He was buried in the Dorotheenstadt Cemetery, adjacent to Brecht's former home.
In January 1918, John Heartfield joined the newly founded German Communist Party (KPD).