art history

Dada  (1914-1920s) Zurich, Cologne, Berlin, Paris, New York  Disillusioned by the useless slaughter of WWI Rejected conventional methods of representation Oil and canvas abandoned Challenged the relationship between words and images; put writing in their works  Characterised by ready-mades Surrealism (1914-1920s) Inspired by psychological studies of Freud and Jung Sought to represent dreams, subconscious thought, and unspoken communication Meant to puzzle, challenge, and fascinates Sources in mysticism, psychology, and the symbolic  Not meant to be clearly understood, not didactic  Constructivism (1907-1930s)  Experimented with new architectural materials Influenced by Cubists  No precise facades 

Illustration from The Results of the First Five-Year Plan . Varvara Stepanova. 1932 C.E. Photomontage. After the First World War, artists in Germany and the Soviet Union began to experiment with photomontage, the process of making a composite image by juxtaposing or mounting two or more photographs in order to give the illusion of a single image. A photomontage can include photographs, text, words and even newspaper clippings.  Russia had for centuries been an absolute monarchy ruled by a tsar, but between 1905 and 1922 the country underwent tremendous change, the result of two wars (World War I, 1914-18 and Civil War, 1917-22) and a series of uprisings that culminated in the October Revolution of 1917.  The young communist state was celebrated by many artists and intellectuals who saw an opportunity to end the corruption and extreme poverty that defined Russia for so long. The Russian avant-garde had experimented with new forms of art for decades and in the...