Art with a vision is worth it!
Even the smallest drops of water make an ocean collectively!
If I say that collage art is just adding and sticking random pieces of art together, then that will definitely be an understatement.
Many of the famous collage artists used real-life elements to combine and create bizarre and irrational artworks.
Artists also showcase their abilities to create abstract art and impromptu artworks that add meaning to their creations.
Before moving any further and learning about famous collage artists, we will first learn about what collage art is.
So, let’s get reading.
Table of contents
What is Collage Art?
When you take a close look at any art and wonder about what procedures might have gone into making it, that’s when the visual representation steps in.
When you look at an artwork and wonder what procedures might be involved in the making of this specific piece of art.
That’s when the visual representation of art steps in.
And fyi, the term collage is derived from the French word “coller,” which means “to glue.”.
It is a form or medium of art that showcases both the process and the finished product of an artwork.
Several artists have used this technique to create art; some of them even fall into the category of the most controversial paintings.
Collage is also known for sticking patterns and bringing materials together that add layers, textures, patterns, and depth to the artwork.
More often than not, artists used to coat the collage artwork with varnish or some other chemical sealant to protect their creation.
When Was Collage Art Invented?
Now, a question may come to mind: when and where did collage art emerge from?
Well, collage art goes back to 105 AD in China.
Chinese mills produced the collage paper, and eventually those mills spread to other nations as well.
This wave persuaded artists from other regions to embrace and adapt their work.
As time went on, collage art became increasingly popular, resulting in the production of countless well-known collage artists.
Fresh talents came forward who learned and even helped this art form take new routes; here’s a list of six talented collage artists whose works even influenced modern artists.
Famous Art Collage Artists
An art form that served as inspiration to many artists and was laid to foundation by two pioneers of the art world.
The two pioneers were none other than Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.
Not only the collage art form, they also played a crucial role in other well-known art movements like cubism, surrealism, etc.
They are labelled as the fathers of collage art.
So, let us learn more about the famous art collage artists:
1. Pablo Picasso
| Date Of Birth | 25 October 1881 |
| Art Movements Associated With | Cubism, Picasso’s Blue Period, Surrealism, Modern art, etc. |
| Famous Artworks | Still Life With Chair Caning, Head of a Man With a Hat. |
The man who played an important role in giving art a unique and vibrant identity is none other than Pablo Picasso.
It is a fact that he has produced some of the most phenomenal and mesmerizing artwork in history.
Whether it was controversy or creativity, Pablo Picasso always stood out!
To your surprise, Pablo Picasso was one of the most famous collage art artists, and not only was he one of them, but he was also the father of collage art, along with Georges Braque.
As per the stories and claims, it is said that both Pablo and Georges were sticking pieces of paper together, and that’s how they laid the foundation for Papiers Colliers,” aka Collage.
For Picasso, collage art was like a visually pleasing interplay between reality and illusion.
Except for sticking materials on top of each other, he also drew over them to add patterns and depth to the painting.
Also Read: Realism Artists
2. Hannah Höch
| Date Of Birth | 1 November 1889 |
| Art Movements Associated With | Primitivism, Dada |
| Famous Artworks | Die Journalisten, Dada-Review, etc. |
Hannah Höch was one of the most prominent and famous female collage artists.
She was claimed to be the originator and prime founder of the method of photomontage collage.
Hannah was a prime known member of the Dada movement, and after her career advancement, she started working at a large publishing house.
She was interested in sticking the cutouts of magazines and leaflets together on a canvas or a page while she was working.
Sooner or later, her use of famous figures in her collages gained popularity, and together, she led a new statement of image-making via collage.
3. Kurt Schwitters
| Date Of Birth | 20 June 1887 |
| Art Movements Associated With | Dada, Merz, and De Stijl |
| Famous Artworks | The And-Picture, Wenzel Kind Mz 151 , etc. |
Kurt Schwitters was a German painter who worked with poetry and typography and was also a pioneer of installation and performance art.
He was known for his active participation in many art movements, that included Dadaism movement, Merz movement, etc.
He was also associated with the creations of some of the famous paintings that only depicted the forms without any context.
Kurt was one of the famous collage artists who used day to day objects in his collage.
He used matchboxes, photo clips, garbage, etc. over his paintings and used to stick them over his oil canvases to make them look realistic.
All together, it can be concluded that Kurt used a mixture of painting and collage to create his final artwork, and that was phenomenal!
4. Robert Rauschenberg
| Date Of Birth | 22 October 1925 |
| Art Movements Associated With | Modern art, Pop art, Abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, Postmodernism. |
| Famous Artworks | Canyon, Monogram, etc. |
Robert Rauschenberg was one of the most famous collage artists in America and a pioneer of pop art.
He was a part of many famous art movements like abstract expressionism, Neo-dadaism, etc.
Robert was very well-known for his use of technical experimentation and pop art that was led by eclecticism.
He’d use images from books and magazines, which were his primary source material, to create collage art.
He was also known for deconstructing the images before reconstructing them.
His three-dimensional and silkscreen paintings were a hit among the abstract collage artists.
5. Man Ray
| Date Of Birth | 27 August 27 1890 |
| Art Movements Associated With | Dada, Surrealism |
| Famous Artworks | The Rope Dancer Accompanies Herself with Her Shadows, Landscape (1913), etc. |
One of the most influential collage artists of the 20th century is Man Ray.
He used a variety of media in his intricate and experimental body of work.
For a dadaist and surrealist like Man Ray, the visual tactics and possibilities of collage art are ideal.
Rayographs, also called photograms, were brought to the scene by Man Ray.
He was also known to add an essence of abstraction, which led to him creating some of the most aesthetic collages
His photograms and collages garnered massive attention when he moved and settled in Paris.
6. David Hockney
| Date Of Birth | 9 July 1937 |
| Art Movements Associated With | Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Contemporary Art |
| Famous Artworks | A visit with Christopher and Don Santa Monica Canyon |
One of the most influential British pop artists is David Hockney.
He was known to inculcate some of the bold statements and messages in his artworks to date.
David, being a painter, was so attracted to and interested in photography that it mostly influenced his creations as well.
Known for adding some bold statements to his artwork, David is also interested in photography and photomontage.
Hockney plays around with the idea of breaking up a scene into multiple pieces in his photographic collages.
Instead of seeing a single-shot photo of a scene, David has been able to achieve a result more in line with how the eye functions, thanks to this technique!
Suggested Read: Famous Post-impressionist Artists
Epilogue
Joining elements of art and converting them into something magical is what the artists of collage were known for
Famous collage artists used the overlapping of elements to depict the urgency of many important topics that needed to be focused on.
Artists like Man Ray and David Hockney ditched the traditional way of painting and also experimented with elements.
That was a great hit in the art world, for sure.
The more we think about how the collage artists portrayed the world, the more we understand the concept of collage, which was expressive!
So, this was about the popular collage artists and their creations that led the art world to unlock a new form of art.
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog. If yes, then please leave your valuable feedback in the comments.
FAQs
Some of the famous collage artists are: Kurt Schwitters, Man Ray, Max Ernst, etc.
Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque are claimed to be the fathers of collage art.
Three famous female collage artists are: Anne Banane, Victoria Topping and Adra Kandil’.
Collage artworks have been classified under four types of categories: paper, digital, mixed media, and photomontage.
