New Chair at the German Universities (AIZ) 1933

John Heartfield's 1933 photomontage, "New Chair at the German Universities (AIZ)," satirizes the Nazi regime's control over German academia. The image depicts a professor with a long white beard, wearing spectacles and a suit, pointing at a diagram of two feet. One is labeled "typical Jewish foot," the other "typical Aryan foot." The professor holds a telescope, suggesting he is looking through a distorted lens, and has one bare foot resting on the desk. This juxtaposition of scholarly attire and a crude depiction of racial prejudice highlights the absurdity of the Nazi ideology. Heartfield was a prominent German artist and photomontage pioneer who used his art to critique political and social injustices.