A German visitor to Madrid's Reina Sofía Museum noticed something different during a recent visit compared to two years earlier. In the Sabatini wing, on the way to Picasso's iconic Guernica, room 205.04 before the grand hall where Picasso's most famous painting is displayed under constant guard by two security officers, was now dedicated to a German artist. The museum now presents 33 works by painter and graphic artist John Heartfield (1891-1968), one of Europe's most innovative political artists.
Heartfield's photomontages rank among the most impressive artistic contributions in the fight against German fascism. The exhibition includes visionary works such as a medal-decorated hyena on a battlefield titled "War and Corpses: The Last Hope of the Rich" and a swastika adorned with executioner's axes from the 1930s. Another of his most famous works displayed here is ironically titled "Millions Stand Behind Me," which shows Hitler receiving a bundle of money from a businessman placed into the same hand with which he salutes his followers with the German greeting.
Also visible in Madrid are Heartfield's warnings to future generations, including "If We All Don't Want It, It Will Never Be!" and the peace dove pierced by a bayonet with "Never Again!" from the 1950s. These works carry shocking relevance given the rising fascism in Europe. Added to the museum's collection only in 2024, these pieces fit like a keystone in the path of the avant-garde to Guernica, according to the collection's motto in the Sabatini building, which includes works by Picasso as well as George Grosz, Joan Miró, Julio González, Fernand Léger, and many other politically critical artists.
The existence of this Heartfield room in the Spanish capital serves as a reminder that Germany lacks a permanent and comprehensive presentation of the artist's work. While interested parties can view Heartfield's originals in the study hall of the Academy of Arts' art collection by prior appointment or use their online catalog of graphic works, and the John Heartfield House in Waldsieversdorf, his former summer house, permanently dedicates itself to his work for Malik Publishing House, these locations are reserved for specialists or thematically limited.
German museums do occasionally dedicate exhibitions to Heartfield, such as "Photography Plus Dynamite" in 2020 at the Berlin Academy of Arts and in 2021 at the NS Documentation Center Munich, or "33 Flashes of Genius" at the Erfurt Art Museum in 2024. However, these exhibitions are time-limited and fail to convey a complete picture of his creative output. The Erfurt curators, for example, deliberately excluded both the impressively designed posters for the Communist Party's parliamentary election campaign and Heartfield's graphic commitment to the Soviet Union, leaving significant gaps in understanding his complete artistic legacy.
