Thursday, October 21, 2010
Artist Spotlight: Hannah Höch
Hannah Höch (November 1, 1889 May 31, 1978) was a German Dada artist. She is best known for her work of the Weimar period, when she was one of the originators of photomontage. She was born Johanne Höch in Gotha, Germany. From 1912 to 1914 she studied at the College of Arts and Crafts in Berlin under the guidance of Harold Bergen. She studied glass design and graphic arts, rather than fine arts, to please her father. She worked for the Red Cross in 1914, at the start of World War I. In 1915 she entered the graph class of the National Institute of the Museum of Arts and Crafts. Also in 1915, Höch began an influential friendship with Raoul Hausmann, a member of the Berlin Dada movement. Höch's involvement with the Berlin Dadists began in earnest in 1919. After her schooling, she worked in the handicrafts department for Ullstein Verlang. The influence of this early work and training can clearly be seen in her later work involving references to dress patterns and textiles. From 1926 to 1929 she lived and worked in the Netherlands. Höch made more influential friendships over the years, with Kurt Schwitters and Piet Mondrian among others. Hausmann, along with Höch, was one of the first pioneers of the artform that would come to be known as photomontage.
(Wikipedia)
