Dada

Collection Themes

Raoul Hausmann and Hannah Höch at the opening of the "Erste Internationale Dada-Messe" (First International Dada Fair), Berlin 1920

Raoul Hausmann and Hannah Höch at the opening of the "Erste Internationale Dada-Messe" (First International Dada Fair), Berlin 1920
Raoul Hausmann and Hannah Höch at the opening of the "Erste Internationale Dada-Messe" (First International Dada Fair), Berlin 1920

Raoul Hausmann and Hannah Höch at the opening of the "Erste Internationale Dada-Messe" (First International Dada Fair), Berlin 1920

Dada emerged as a global phenomenon in part as a response to the barbarism of World War I. With its nonsensical name and emphasis on chaos, the movement mounted a scathing critique of capitalism, politics, technology, and social issues. Berlin’s 1920 “First International Dada Fair” included work by Otto Dix, George Grosz, John Heartfield, and Hannah Höch, among others. John Heartfield’s A Bourgeois Precision Brain Incites a World Movement (Dada Triumphs!) is a rare survivor from this seminal presentation. Höch created some of the most striking collages of the era, yet struggled to gain equal recognition from her male colleagues. The multidisciplinary oeuvre of Kurt Schwitters anticipated postmodern art with his revolutionary practice in diverse areas, such as building environments (Merzbau), collages, paintings, and poetry. This overarching approach is a legacy that remains with us today.