Photomontage in Berlin, A critical study of the capitals inter-war artwork

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Photomontage in Berlin, A critical study of the capitals inter-war artwork

In this essay I will aim to look at the history of photomontage and to also draw concise conclusions from the artwork produced specifically in inter-war Germany. I will debate the ideas of why it became so popular, in a country with political unrest. Also I will look at Photomontages strengths and weaknesses, both artistically and politically.

To fully understand how Photomontage came about, we must first look at the Dada movement of the early 20th century. This movement was very much responsible for influencing not only Photomontage, but also Surrealism and Pop Art. It is therefore a key phase of the modernist movement. Indeed many Dadaists eventually became experts in the field of photomontage, so it seems only right to first analyse briefly this

Forerunner. Dada began in the First World War in Switzerland, and quickly spread to most parts of Europe as an anti-art movement. Dada was considered by its creators as an anti-art movement, because Dada aimed to be a complete contradiction of Arts socio-political values.

Dada in Berlin leaned towards the angrier and politically motivated approach to the arts. Unquestionably because of what the war had done to the economy and state of Germany. The political climate in Germany was one of extremes, with the communist and fascist parties fighting for control. Therefore it is perfectly conceivable that Dada would take a similar extreme stance. “Towards the end of the war Berlin was a half-starved nightmare city, and there was increasing social and political chaos, which was to last until 1933”1. This social and political chaos gave the Dadaists the perfect grounds to use their movement as a way of promoting political ideals. In blaming Capitalism for The Great War they turned to anarchy, nihilism and communism, the complete opposite. Hoping that it would stop a war of such scale from happening again.

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The ties between artwork and the political beliefs of the Berlin Dadaists was strong, they hated expressionist art because it said nothing of the current social circumstances. Photomontage evolved directly out of Dadaism, allowing artists to comment on social and political problems. “For the Dadaists, photomontages mechanical, impersonal qualities offered a powerful antidote to what they considered expressionist self indulgence”2. So in a sense Photomontage came about as a weapon of social realism.

Dada artists quickly began using photomontage as a political weapon.

  1. Dawn Ades Photomontage (London: Thames and Hudson, 1976), p11.
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