born 1893 Berlin, Germany
died 1959 Berlin, Germany
"Der Sträfling" Monteur John Heartfield nach Franz Jungs Versuchihn auf die Beine zu stellen ("The Convict" Monteur John Heartfield after Franz Jung's Attempt to Get Him Up on His Feet) (also known as The Engineer Heartfield), 1920 watercolor and pencil on paper with photomontage
This appealing piece of Grosz uses the technique of photomontage on the normal watercolor painting. Frankly my first impression came from the funny face of the person in the work. He looks serious in uniforms, but attaching some other materials on his shoulder and arm parts of the uniforms symbolises the imperfect authority and power of the forces.
More importantly, on his right side of the back, some kind of metal device photograph is attached. It looks like a hug medal for the respectable generals, but it is a metal mass, which I sorrowfully couldn't recognize what it is. I think that it illustrates the unrealistic reason of the armed forces, and furthermore unnecessary war.
The entire atmosphere is made by the dark color. Bluish dark colors has a cold feeling which human eyes have a problem as they send visual signal to the brain. On other hand, red color in the center of the work makes easier to send the signals and to memorize the visual message. It practically helps us to focus on the center of this work.
George Grosz and John Heartfield
German, 1893–1959; German, 1891–1968
Der wildgewordene Spiesser Heartfield (Elektro-mechan. Tatlin-Plastik)
(The Middle-Class Philistine Heartfield Gone Wild [Electro-Mechanical Tatlin Sculpture])
The technique of this piece using is called assemblage. The upper part of this three-dimensional work is formed with a mannequin, an electronic lamp, a gun, a knife, a fork, a letter C and the like. They seem attached in a chaotic way without a rule, but I think the artist must have made it with a purpose.
The first thing that dragged my intention was the tall chair that the mannequin is stepping on and the mannequin without arms, head and a leg. The tall chair emphasizes on the shortages of the mannequin. And the fork and knife are everyday object for civilized human beings. If we consider the letter C as a symbol of a language, the lamp as electricity, the mannequin as people, and the gun as a social, political and traditional force, it is easy to assume the topic of this art work.
Sarcastically the artists convey the meaningless and hollow notion of civilization and materialism with the number on the chest part. Nowadays, more and more people are not recognized by their names but by the numbers. The number 27 on the chest is showing this bitter social fact.
Grosz was a communist and dadaist. In order to understand Grosz's work, I had to understand what Dadaism is and what it seeks for. According to Wikipedia, my favorite encyclopedia site, Dada is a cultural movement that began in neutral Zürich, Switzerland, during
WWI and peaked from 1916 to 1920.
As I looked through the list of dadaist artists' techniques, works and bibliographies, I found myself liking photomontage most. Maybe it was because it has the most familiar artistic look that I'm used to. The notion of Dadaism is fascinating.
"The normal state of man is Dada."
- First International Dada Fair poster, 1919
"One can shout out through refuse."
- Kurt Schwitters, 1919
"Dada has never claimed to have anything to do with art."
- Max Ernst, 1920
Dada is not art, but at the same time, it is. I know I sound confusing, however, when we look closely at the concept of art, we might be able to get closer to the actual definition of art.
died 1959 Berlin, Germany
"Der Sträfling" Monteur John Heartfield nach Franz Jungs Versuchihn auf die Beine zu stellen ("The Convict" Monteur John Heartfield after Franz Jung's Attempt to Get Him Up on His Feet) (also known as The Engineer Heartfield), 1920 watercolor and pencil on paper with photomontage
This appealing piece of Grosz uses the technique of photomontage on the normal watercolor painting. Frankly my first impression came from the funny face of the person in the work. He looks serious in uniforms, but attaching some other materials on his shoulder and arm parts of the uniforms symbolises the imperfect authority and power of the forces.
More importantly, on his right side of the back, some kind of metal device photograph is attached. It looks like a hug medal for the respectable generals, but it is a metal mass, which I sorrowfully couldn't recognize what it is. I think that it illustrates the unrealistic reason of the armed forces, and furthermore unnecessary war.
The entire atmosphere is made by the dark color. Bluish dark colors has a cold feeling which human eyes have a problem as they send visual signal to the brain. On other hand, red color in the center of the work makes easier to send the signals and to memorize the visual message. It practically helps us to focus on the center of this work.
George Grosz and John HeartfieldGerman, 1893–1959; German, 1891–1968
Der wildgewordene Spiesser Heartfield (Elektro-mechan. Tatlin-Plastik)
(The Middle-Class Philistine Heartfield Gone Wild [Electro-Mechanical Tatlin Sculpture])
The technique of this piece using is called assemblage. The upper part of this three-dimensional work is formed with a mannequin, an electronic lamp, a gun, a knife, a fork, a letter C and the like. They seem attached in a chaotic way without a rule, but I think the artist must have made it with a purpose.
The first thing that dragged my intention was the tall chair that the mannequin is stepping on and the mannequin without arms, head and a leg. The tall chair emphasizes on the shortages of the mannequin. And the fork and knife are everyday object for civilized human beings. If we consider the letter C as a symbol of a language, the lamp as electricity, the mannequin as people, and the gun as a social, political and traditional force, it is easy to assume the topic of this art work.
Sarcastically the artists convey the meaningless and hollow notion of civilization and materialism with the number on the chest part. Nowadays, more and more people are not recognized by their names but by the numbers. The number 27 on the chest is showing this bitter social fact.
Grosz was a communist and dadaist. In order to understand Grosz's work, I had to understand what Dadaism is and what it seeks for. According to Wikipedia, my favorite encyclopedia site, Dada is a cultural movement that began in neutral Zürich, Switzerland, during
WWI and peaked from 1916 to 1920.
As I looked through the list of dadaist artists' techniques, works and bibliographies, I found myself liking photomontage most. Maybe it was because it has the most familiar artistic look that I'm used to. The notion of Dadaism is fascinating.
"The normal state of man is Dada."
- First International Dada Fair poster, 1919
"One can shout out through refuse."
- Kurt Schwitters, 1919
"Dada has never claimed to have anything to do with art."
- Max Ernst, 1920
Dada is not art, but at the same time, it is. I know I sound confusing, however, when we look closely at the concept of art, we might be able to get closer to the actual definition of art.
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