The Meaning of Geneva, Peace Cannot Live Where Greed Capital Exists! 1932

This photomontage by John Heartfield uses stark black and white to make a political point, a pretty blunt one, actually. He’s not messing around with subtlety! It’s a dead dove, skewered on a bayonet with a Nazi swastika on it, posed in front of the League of Nations building in Geneva. The monochrome palette throws the image into sharp relief, making the contrast between the lifeless bird and the cold, hard steel even more brutal. It feels like Heartfield is saying peace is dead, murdered by fascism. Look at the way the feathers are arranged, almost like they’re still falling, a sense of movement frozen in time. It’s a gut-wrenching image. Heartfield, like his contemporary Hannah Höch, used collage to make political statements. But where Höch could be playful, Heartfield is all anger and accusation. His work shares a spirit with that of Goya, who also knew how to wield an image like a weapon.