Gouache Paint
Gouache paint is an opaque, water-based art medium made with pigment and a water-soluble binder, drying to a matte finish that can be reactivated with water.
Painter
Hannah Höch
Hannah Höch was a German Dada artist who pioneered critical photomontage and combined printed imagery with watercolor, gouache, and painted abstraction.
Hannah Höch quick facts
Höch challenged gender roles and mass-media culture through Berlin Dada photomontage, while also making abstract gouache and watercolor works on paper.
| Born | 1889 · Gotha, German Empire (now Germany) |
|---|---|
| Died | 1978 · West Berlin, West Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Movements | Dada |
| Paint types | Gouache Paint · Watercolor Paint |
| Painting surfaces | Paper |
| Painting methods | Cutting and reassembling illustrations and photographs, opaque gouache blocks, watercolor washes, layered shapes, and pencil planning |
| Common subjects | Weimar society, mass-media imagery, women's identities, machinery, composite figures, and abstract forms |
| Notable works | Cut with the Kitchen Knife · Study for Man and Machine · Untitled (1943) · With Seaweed |
| Other materials | Found printed photographs and paper clippings used in collage, not paint types |
Sources: MoMA: Hannah Höch and Berlin Dada, MoMA: Study for Man and Machine, gouache and watercolor, MoMA: Untitled (1943), gouache on paper, MoMA: With Seaweed, collage and gouache, MoMA: Untitled (1945), watercolor and collage.
Paint types used
MoMA documents Höch using both gouache and watercolor on paper, sometimes mixing paint with found printed images.
Watercolor Paint
Watercolor paint is a water-based art medium made with pigment and a water-soluble binder, typically applied in transparent washes on absorbent paper.
Surface types used
Her recorded gouache studies, watercolor works, and printed-paper collages were assembled and painted on paper.
Paper
Paper is an absorbent sheet material made from pressed fibers, with weight, sizing, and surface texture controlling moisture tolerance and paint behavior.
Painters similar to Hannah Höch
Ernst and Schwitters also worked with radical Dada collage and unexpected combinations of printed material.
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German-born painter associated with Dada and Surrealism, known for uncanny scenes, collage, frottage, and scraped paint textures.
Kurt Schwitters
Kurt Schwitters was a German Dada-associated artist who developed Merz collages from discarded papers and objects, often mixed with oil and watercolor.