Lindbergh II

Mieczyslaw Berman studied graphic design and typography at the School of Decorative Arts in Warsaw. His exposure to Russian Constructivist poster design and to collages and photomontages by László Moholy-Nagy, Kurt Schwitters, and Hannah Höch provided sources of inspiration for the Constructivist collages he began to make in 1927. In 1930, when he discovered the political photomontages of John Heartfield published in "AIZ" ("Arbeiter Illustrierte-Zeitung"), his interest shifted from the Constructivist potential of photocollage, the medium in which he worked exclusively, to its potential as a political tool.
In his early works Berman often used his own response to actual events as a point of departure. The photocollage "Lindbergh II" captures the excitement of the first transatlantic crossing by the American pilot Charles Lindbergh. On top of a map that delineates the course of the flight, Berman placed two photomechanically reproduced elements whose juxtaposition suspends Lindbergh's plane precariously above the ocean and beneath the clouds, thereby recreating the 33 1/2-hour solo flight. Paris, Lindbergh's final destination, is cupped by applauding hands. The scattering of his name in various typefaces represents the roar of celebratory kudos with which the exhausted but elated twenty-five-year-old hero was greeted upon his landing.