The story of artist John Heartfield — born Helmut Franz Josef Herzfeld in Berlin in 1891 — begins like a German fairy story. In 1899, his dad and mom, in poor health and poverty-stricken, deserted Helmut and his three siblings in a mountain cabin at Aigen, close to Salzburg. The hungry kids had been found 4 days later by the mayor of the city and his spouse, who took them in and fostered them. In the meantime, their uncle, a lawyer, appeared with a belief from their rich grandfather’s property to fund their educations. Helmut educated at a number of...