Photocollage and Photomontage…. their Connections to Dali, Picasso and Hockney

Photocollage and photomontage are very similar. They both combine different images into a new image. The process is different. Photocollage = pictures that are usually cut out and pasted onto a new image. It is recognized by large overlapping images with on an irregular surface (texture). Photomontage = pictures that are usually manipulated by computer software ( cut and paste controls ) to recreate an image. It is recognized by small images on a smooth surface.

History of Photomontage started from the German DADA movement comes specifically from John Heartfield and Hannah Hoch people began cutting and pasting together parts of different photographs many barriers separated photography and other ways/surfaces of creating art (media) these people started the use of “mixed media” Joiners = images of a scene created by smaller prints that are overlapping

Dali’s Connection... Even though Picasso and Dali were good friends, Dali did not particularly like Picasso’s art and he expressed this to his friend many times. Believe it or not, Dali considered Picasso’s artworks to be ‘ugly’ and Dali thought his own art had a sense of ‘beauty’. This is Dali’s portrait of Picasso, which is a version of an Iberian sculpture called Lady of Elche. Iberian sculptures, along with African sculptures, were one source of inspiration for Picasso’s paintings.

Pablo Picasso At what age was Pablo Picasso able to paint like the European masters? Who became a close friend of Picasso’s in the 1950s? Whose portrait was pointed out while walking through John’s loft? Picasso was able to draw before he could do what? Why did Picasso change his original surname and where did it come from? What appealed Pablo to the surname Picasso? If Picasso didn’t become a painter, what would he have become? After Picasso moved to Paris, what caused him to pain ‘in blue’? What event caused Picasso to pain ‘in rose’? After his Rose Period, what did Picasso start to paint? What objects inspired Picasso to abstract his artwork?

Pablo Picasso’s intention was to ‘return to the primitive’ in his art and he did this by incorporating simple lines, earthy colours and prominent shadows to create depth and form. Picasso also liked the idea of distortion and imperfections, which was innovative in the art world during his time period.

Picasso in action... Describe the first image that Picasso paints. Which part of the Image initiated a clue as to what he was painting? Describe what you think Picasso is painting next. What did it end up to be? Describe the third / fourth images that Picasso paints. What is different compared to the bodies of the previous paintings? Describe the fifth painting. Explain what other painting you think this looks like? (HINT: Da Vinci) Describe the last painting. What is different about this one compared to the other paintings?

David Hockney Hockney made photomontage popular again by creating photocollage artworks. He was the first well-known artist to create this type of art. His earlier photocollages included a picture of himself in them. For example, My Mother, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire, Nov. 82 #4 had his feet at the bottom of the image.

There is the spatial aspect to Hockney's joiners, which ties in to Hockney's feelings about the objectivity of the image. He firmly believed that there was no such thing as objective vision. Too much subjectivity is impressed upon any image by the viewer. Hockney's works have strong links with Cubism because his motivation for producing them was to introduce two artistic elements which a single photograph cannot have: layered time and space. These are central Cubist themes. How does Hockney relate to Cubism?

Hockney’s feet My Mother, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire, Nov. 82 #4 Negative Space

In this Hockney artwork there are 2 themes that are present. 1. Age – Hockney’s mother was an elder who appeared to look frail and alone. 2. Mortality – The ruins of Bolton Abbey give us a sense that she is sitting in the middle of the graveyard, and the dreary day helps us feel the mood that Hocney was trying to portray.

David Kasmin Los Angeles 28 th March 1982 This has a rectangular grid of polaroid images.

Combining small fragments of photographs, which are cut out from several photographs of the same subject shot from different angles, Hockney created a Cubist-like photograph. Each fragment of the photograph represents a focal point, which people can concentrate on at once. The whole image of the photograph is a buildup of the focal points. Kasmin Los Angeles 28 th March 1982 Composite Polaroid 1982

Hockney attempted to construct a more clearly representational image of this street in Paris. This work shows that Hockney has actually taken a smaller number of prints and cut them up to construct the photocollage. He used many pictures from the same viewpoint and has worked in a systematic manner to cover the scene. He wanted to cover the street with a “new scene” of a park in the middle of Paris.

Here are the gaps!! If you look closely, there are a couple gaps between the pictures in the middle and the edge of the artwork.

List the rules / characteristics of Hockney’s works in Pearblossom Highway. Explain why this is a good composition.