Collage

1,478 artworks, 561 artists
Collage (fr. coller — glue, gluing) as a method of fine art is the combination or gluing of dissimilar elements on a single basis; the elements may differ in origin and materials, colours and textures, artistic style and content, as well as other characteristics. The collage technique provides a scope for the artist’s creative imagination, and it does not limit an artist in the choice of the medium: canvas, paper, paints, metal or plastic fragments are used. Collage consists of the elements of heterogeneous realities and nature, but it forms the viewer’s ability to perceive the work as a whole.

The first works similar to collage appeared in the 2nd century AD, but for a millennium and a half, the method was used by the artists in individual cases only. The forefathers of collage in the visual arts of the 20th century were the representatives of the avant-garde — the CubistsDadaists and Mannerists. In 1913, the French cubist artist Georges Braque was the first to use the technique of gluing paper on cardboard in his work, which attracted the attention of Pablo Picasso. The aartists collaborated for five years, and the result of their creative search was the direction of the fine arts that united scraps of fabric, newspapers, posters, business cards and photographs. In the mid-20th century, photomontage appeared, which is one of the collage offshoots; it develops together with the technologies of the 21st century.

Art critics distinguish four types of collage, which have the specific means of expression and techniques: landscape, decorative, vegetative and form-linear. Also in the second half of the 20th century, several directions of collage art emerged: vintage art, advertising collage, retro style, urban style and creative collage.

Famous collages:
The Phenomenon of Ecstasy” 1933, “Baby Map of the World” 1939 by Salvador Dalí; “Newspaper, Bottle, Packet of Tobacco” 1914, “Glass Carafe and Newspapers” 1914 by Georges Braque; “Composition with a Bunch of Grapes and a Sliced Pear” 1914 by Pablo Picasso; “Portrait of Natalia Goncharova” 1915 by Mikhail Larionov.

Famous artists who worked with collage:
Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Aristarkh Lentulov, Ilya Glazunov.
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