After World War I, the art world exploded with a style of art called Dadaism. By the Merriam-Webster definition, Dadaism is “a movement in art and literature based on deliberate irrationality and negation of traditional artistic values.” In practice, Dadaism rejected modern capitalism and the bourgeois, along with wartime politics from far-left radical groups. As the definition stated, this brand of art was nontraditional, using satire and irrationality to encompass its nonsensical meaning—even the name of the movement itself, Dada, was meant to have no meaning behind it.
This movement, bizarre as it was, produced some incredibly iconic pieces of art that are still known to this day. Here are just a few examples of the iconic Dada movement.
Marcel Duchamp, Fountain (1917)
Not only is Marcel Duchamp one of the most famous artists from the Dada movement, but he’s also associated with Cubism, Futurism, and early conceptual art. After World War I, art became a form of cultural protest for him and brought about one of the most famous pieces of the movement: Fountain.
Fountain is a ‘readymade’ sculpture using a porcelain urinal, the word ‘R.Mutt’ signed on its side. The original piece no longer exists, but a replica was made of earthenware in 1964. Duchamp submitted Fountain to the Paris Salon, but it was rejected because it was not considered to be art.
Marcel Duchamp, L.H.O.O.Q. (1919)
Another infamous piece by Marcel Duchamp is L.H.O.O.Q., another ‘readymade’ sculpture using a postcard of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Duchamp then drew a waxed mustache and goatee onto the postcard, making ‘high art’ like da Vinci’s piece into a satirical one instead by rejecting the aesthetic of it. This piece’s name is also satirical, as L.H.O.O.Q. in French sounds like ‘Ell a chaud au cul,’ or ‘she’s so hot in the butt.’
Hannah Höch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada Through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch of Germany (1919-1920)
Another member of the Dadaism movement was Hannah Höch, a German artist who pioneered the photomontage technique. This technique took images from popular media and turned it into a photo collage. Her art explored feminism, gender and androgyny in art, the dissolution of the ‘New Woman’ dichotomy, and the political climate during the Weimar Republic.
Cut with the Kitchen Knife is a juxtaposition between Dadaism and the time period’s mainstream culture; on one side of the piece, Höch placed members of the dominant political groups at the time, while on the other, she featured communists, artists, and other radicals. Additionally, Höch included a small map with each country that allowed women to vote. This piece is particularly iconic to the Dada movement because it demonstrates the rebellion found in Dadaists and other radical groups who acted out in a time of strict conformity.