Narrative Collage
(under construction)
Lesson sequence
- A brief history of collage
- Matisse's cut-outs
- Practice by making a collage inspired by Matisse's "Underwater" cut outs
- Watch video on Romare Bearden
- Write a story of your earliest memory
- Begin project: Make a collage of your earliest memory
- Share collage and guess classmate's story
A brief history of collage
Source: ArtHistory.About.com found on 20/1/2014
Collage derives its name from the French verb coller, to glue. The work of art is made by gluing things to the surface. Collage became an art form during the Synthetic Cubist period of Picasso and Braque. At first, Pablo Picasso glued oil cloth to his surface of Still Life with Chair Caning in May of 1912. He glued a rope around the edge of the oval canvas. Georges Braque then glued imitation wood-grained wallpaper to his Fruit Dish and Glass (September 1912). Braque's work is called papier collé (glued or pasted paper), a specific type of collage.During the Dada movement, Hannah Höch (German, 1889-1978) glued bits of photographs from magazines and advertising in such works as Cut with a Kitchen Knife, (1919-20). Fellow Dadaist Kurt Schwitters (German, 1887-1948) also glued bits of paper he found in newspapers, advertisements and other discarded matter beginning in 1919. Schwitters called his collages and assemblages Merzbilder, a word derived from the German word "Kommerz" (Commerce, as in banking) which had been on a fragment of an advertisement in his first work, and bilder ("pictures").
The exclusive use of photos in collage is called photomontage.
Collage became the way to integrate "high" and "low" art - work made by the artist's hand and work made by mass-production.
Source: ArtHistory.About.com found on 20/1/2014
Collage derives its name from the French verb coller, to glue. The work of art is made by gluing things to the surface. Collage became an art form during the Synthetic Cubist period of Picasso and Braque. At first, Pablo Picasso glued oil cloth to his surface of Still Life with Chair Caning in May of 1912. He glued a rope around the edge of the oval canvas. Georges Braque then glued imitation wood-grained wallpaper to his Fruit Dish and Glass (September 1912). Braque's work is called papier collé (glued or pasted paper), a specific type of collage.During the Dada movement, Hannah Höch (German, 1889-1978) glued bits of photographs from magazines and advertising in such works as Cut with a Kitchen Knife, (1919-20). Fellow Dadaist Kurt Schwitters (German, 1887-1948) also glued bits of paper he found in newspapers, advertisements and other discarded matter beginning in 1919. Schwitters called his collages and assemblages Merzbilder, a word derived from the German word "Kommerz" (Commerce, as in banking) which had been on a fragment of an advertisement in his first work, and bilder ("pictures").
The exclusive use of photos in collage is called photomontage.
Collage became the way to integrate "high" and "low" art - work made by the artist's hand and work made by mass-production.
Matisse's cut outs
Source: National Gallery of Art found at www.nga.gov/exhibitions/matisseinfo.shtm on 20/1/2014During the last fifteen years of his life, Henri Matisse developed his final artistic triumph by "cutting into color." The drama, scale, and innovation of Matisse's rare and fragile papiers coupes (paper cutouts) remain without precedent or parallel. His technique involved the freehand cutting of colored papers into beautiful shapes, which he then pinned loosely to the white studio walls, later adjusting, recutting, combining, and recombining them to his satisfaction. The result created an environment that transcended the boundaries of conventional painting, drawing, and sculpture. Later, the shapes were glued to large white paper backgrounds for shipping or display. This group of cutouts represents one of the largest concentrations of these important works worldwide.
Source: National Gallery of Art found at www.nga.gov/exhibitions/matisseinfo.shtm on 20/1/2014During the last fifteen years of his life, Henri Matisse developed his final artistic triumph by "cutting into color." The drama, scale, and innovation of Matisse's rare and fragile papiers coupes (paper cutouts) remain without precedent or parallel. His technique involved the freehand cutting of colored papers into beautiful shapes, which he then pinned loosely to the white studio walls, later adjusting, recutting, combining, and recombining them to his satisfaction. The result created an environment that transcended the boundaries of conventional painting, drawing, and sculpture. Later, the shapes were glued to large white paper backgrounds for shipping or display. This group of cutouts represents one of the largest concentrations of these important works worldwide.
Paper cut-outs
You are challenged to create a paper cutout in the style of Henri Matisse using coloured tissue paper, scissors, and glue sticks. Although this is practice, your work could turn out to be quite impressive.
What is your earliest memory?
1. Write down your earliest memory.
2. Who are the characters in this memory?
3. What is the foreground in this memory?
4. What is the middle-ground in this memory?
5. What is the background in this memory?
2. Who are the characters in this memory?
3. What is the foreground in this memory?
4. What is the middle-ground in this memory?
5. What is the background in this memory?