Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German-born painter associated with Dada and Surrealism, known for uncanny scenes, collage, frottage, and scraped paint textures.
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.
| Full name | Anna Therese Johanne Höch |
|---|---|
| Born | 1889 · Gotha, German Empire (now Germany) |
| Died | 1978 · West Berlin, West Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Movements | Dada |
| Paint types | Gouache Paint · Watercolor Paint |
| Other media | Photomontage · collage |
| Other materials | Found printed photographs and paper clippings used in collage, not paint types |
| 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 |
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 by Hannah Höch
Höch made gouache and watercolor works on paper, sometimes combining paint with drawings and pasted images in her Dada photomontage compositions.
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Gouache paint
In With Seaweed (1950), Höch painted with gouache on paper among cut-and-pasted and torn paper pieces. The collage fragments are separate materials; gouache supplies the painted passages. The work documents her use of opaque paint within a photomontage practice that combines painting and found printed imagery.
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Watercolor paint
Study for Man and Machine (1921) combines watercolor and gouache with pencil on paper, documenting transparent and opaque paint media together in one study. The drawing and painted washes develop the image on a flexible sheet, distinct from the cut-and-pasted photo fragments in her photomontages.
Sources: MoMA: With Seaweed (1950), gouache with cut-and-pasted and torn papers; MoMA: Study for Man and Machine (1921), watercolor, gouache, and pencil on paper.; MoMA: Untitled (1943)
Painting surfaces used by Hannah Höch
Collection records document paper in Hannah Höch’s work, with examples below tying it to named works instead of inferring it from style or period.
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Paper
Höch used paper for gouache, watercolor, photomontage, and drawings, including With Seaweed and Study for Man and Machine in MoMA’s collection. The sheet serves as both a painted surface and a base for pasted photographs or papers. Museum records document paper across distinct parts of her practice.
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.
Painters similar to Hannah Höch
Ernst and Schwitters also used Dada collage, bringing printed images and found materials into compositions that challenged conventional art.
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.