John Heartfield Exhibitions. Current Events Prove John Heartfield Anti-Fascist Political Art Remains True, 1993 – 2016

Explore the years from 1993 to the present. Learn how The Official John Heartfield Exhibition began. Discover why the frightening actions of Donald Trump’s administration prove Heartfield’s anti-fascist art is as relevant today as it was when the courageous artist activist challenged the power of Adolf Hitler and The Third Reich. Trump’s presidency may be the most crucial years in history.

For too many years the Heartfield Archiv, Akademie der Künste, have treated John Heartfield’s art as treasured relics rather than necessary powerful political masterpieces containing messages that must be available to the public.

Shortly after his return from his visit to the Heartfield Archiv (Heartfield Archive) in Berlin, attorneys acting for John J Heartfield and his sister, Catherine Jacobson, challenge the assertion that the Akademie der Künste controls the copyrights to John Heartfield’s work.

In a letter dated May 1, 1993, the Akademie der Künste finally admitted that copyright approval for John Heartfield’s work should have always been the right and responsibility of The Heartfield Community of Heirs.

This concession came too late for the two major books John Heartfield (one German edition, one English edition) released in conjunction with a world tour of John Heartfield’s original art. The tour concluded with a critically acclaimed exhibition that took up the entire second floor of New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). The exhibition is packed every day. It is universally acclaimed by critics in newspapers such as The New Times. Incredibly, John J Heartfield was told by MOMA that the exhibition was almost cancelled. MOMA was furious about demands made by the Akademie Der Künste regarding the display of the art.Beginning in 1993, John J Heartfield uses every means possible to persuade the Akademie Der Künste to help increase his grandfather’s recognition and renown. He continues this effort today. One suggestion was a temporary loan of Heartfield’s art to museums such as the Getty Museum, The Holocaust Museum, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Many world-class museums and institutions told Heartfield’s grandson of their desire to display John Heartfield’s original art.

The Akademie Der Künste categorically refuses such requests. Their reason is that the originals in the Heartfield Archive can only be properly preserved inside the archive. Also, they claim that Heartfield’s real art is reproductions of his originals, not the original art. No major museum in the world is interested in displaying reproductions of original art.

The curator believes the Heartfield Archiv has good intentions. However, those in control hold the belief that John Heartfield’s art is a collection of treasured relics of another era, rather than a highly relevant warnings of propaganda lies and out-of-control nationalism leading to fascism and war. John Heartfield risked his life to get the messages in his art to as wide an audience as possible. The curator knows his grandfather would tear down the doors of any institution that kept them hidden.