Collages

Realistic and Yet Abstract - The Collage Technique in Art

Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, who created an early form of art collage at the beginning of the 20th century, are the founders of the collage technique in art today. The name of the first works created in this way was Papier collé, which translated into English means "pasted paper". The aim here was to use the decorative elements of Cubism, which had previously only been imitated in painting, as independent components within the picture. This created an emphatic closeness to reality but, at the same time, established a particular abstraction, since the individual elements detached from the objects from which they originated. This basic principle remains in art collages to this day so that each work combines reality reference and abstraction in equal measure. In this way, entirely new narrative worlds emerge.

Paper, Wallpaper, Wood - Art Collages Composed of a Wide Variety of Elements

What are the characteristics of a collage? To put it simply: in an art collage, different design elements and everyday objects are combined. Each individual element carries its own meaning, which sometimes is detached from the actual attribution. There are no limits to the artist's choice of materials and elements. From newspaper cut-outs and photographs to wallpaper, wood, or natural materials - anything is possible. Art collages often occur in a combination with drawings, writings, and colour applications with different textures. This freedom makes the collage technique appealing to artists, as they can constantly create new imagery and stories by combining various elements.

From Cubism to Pop Art - Famous Collage Artists and Their Works

Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Juan Gries developed the first art collages. Alongside Cubism, Dadaism also quickly adopted this new art form: Hannah Höch and Marcel Duchamp created art collages that directed the gaze away from normality and impressively broke away from rigid conventions. René Magritte and Salvador Dalí also experimented with the technique in Surrealism. Pop Art, Fluxus and Mail Art are further art movements in which collage was frequently used as a technique.

Buy Art Collages at ars mundi

Art highlights of bygone epochs and innovative works by up-and-coming artists - at ars mundi you will discover both. This also applies to art collages, which we present as unique pieces as well as limited editions. Discover lithographic collages by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, works by Jean Tinguely, Mel Bochner or YESS and let yourself be carried away by the multi-layered and extraordinary symbiosis of realism and abstraction.