Macdonald = Socialism, from the Workers' Illustrated News 1930

John Heartfield made this photomontage, "Macdonald = Socialism," for the Workers' Illustrated News. It's all in sepia tones and it looks like he’s riffing on ideas around conflict and power. I feel for artists making political work. It's tricky stuff trying to find a way to make images that speak truth to power! You can imagine Heartfield, snipping, rearranging, pasting… I wonder if he ever felt frustrated, knowing his work would be up against a wall of propaganda? Look at the planes, the soldiers in gas masks, and the figure of Macdonald looming over it all. Think about the texture of the original photographs and how they transform when combined. The message is definitely anti-war, and feels almost surreal in how the images clash together. It reminds me of Hannah Hoch's collages, where she also used collage to powerful effect. It makes you realize that artists are always in conversation, building on each other's ideas and responding to the world around them. Painting can be a way of working through the messy, complicated stuff of life.