after the war

Heartfield remained in England until 1950, at which time he returned to East Berlin. Though his work had long been appreciated outside of his home country prior to the end of World War II, it was not until 1954 that he was honoured by Germany. Heartfield continued to produce photomontages for publication and exhibit until his death in 1968. His influence has been far and wide, both directly, and indirectly through his development of the technique of photomontage.

heartfield's legacy

The Spanish artist José Renau saw a copy of A-I-Z and was inspired by Heartfield's peace dove montage. In the Soviet Union, Alexander Shitomirsky produced satirical anti-Nazi photomontages that were close in style to Heartfield's. At the same time, Polish artist Mieczyslav Berman was studying Heartfield's A-I-Z covers.