In 1918 Richard Huelsenbeck returned from Zurich to Berlin, bringing Dada with him. Indeed, the beginning of Berlin Dada is generally associated with Huelsenbeck’s reading of the "First German Dada Manifesto" at J. B. Neumann’s gallery on 21 January 1918. Founder members of Berlin Dada include John Heartfield, Wieland Herzefelde, George Grosz, Johannes Baader, Hannah Höch, and Raoul Hausmann.
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 Dada Fair, 1920.
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Berlin Dada’s most distinctive quality, differentiating it from other forms of Dada, was its more aggressive and politically motivated approach to the arts. This was unquestionably due to the fact that the ravages of the first World War and its aftermath had hit Berlin much harder than it had Zurich, in neutral Switzerland. As Dawn Ades states, "Towards the end of the war Berlin was a half-starved nightmare city, and there was increasing social and political chaos, which was to last until 1933"(4). Berlin Dada was also much more interested in publishing and the mass media, and in transitory works and events than other forms of Dada. The climax of Berlin Dada can be seen as the First International Dada Fair (indeed, the only Dada fair ever), which had the theme "Art is dead! Long live Tatlin!". All of the major Berlin Dadaists, including John Heartfield and George Grosz exhibited works at the show, whose central piece was a dummy with a pig’s head, hanging from the ceiling, dressed as a German officer. The works involved shocked the general public and created publicity for Dada’s beliefs. |
Heartfield’s association with the Berlin Dadaists is not surprising when we see their assertive and political approach to art, which aligned itself with Communist ideals. However, as Peter Selz notes, as
Such was the case for John Heartfield, as he moved away from Berlin Dada and strengthened his commitment to Communism. Heartfield’s associations with Dada were nevertheless very important ones, and are identifiable in much of his later work. |
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