Dadaism: The Radical 20th Century Anti-Art Movement

It is the most violent, sharp, and controversial movement of the 20th Century. Its chief theorist, the Romanian poet Tristan Tzara, insisted that Dada was more a mood than a technique or style. Energy sources must be sought in circumstances that are both psychic, intellectual, and formal. The first manifestations of the Dada spirit took place between 1915 and 1916 in New York and Zurich.

The Origins of the Dadaist Movement in Zurich

In 1918, Tzara said that "Dada means nothing." From the outset, the view was committed to the destruction of all established values; however, the movement became a new artistic reality, leading to Surrealism. The Dadaist movement was born in Zurich in 1916 and remained in the field of intellectual denial in a violent protest against the false myths of positivist reason.

Dada is anti-artistic, anti-literary, and unpoetic. It proclaims:

• Unbridled individual freedom
• Spontaneity and immediacy
• Contradiction

It exists where others say it does not, and vice versa.

Dadaism in New York (1912-1921)

Already in 1912, two young artists in Paris, Marcel Duchamp and Francis Picabia, had found a way to express their contempt for the artistic values of the middle class and their disillusionment with all modern fashions. In 1910, Duchamp found Picabia, with whom he shared a taste for paradox. Both had waived Cubist issues. The best-known works by Picabia include "I See Again in Memory My Dear Udnie" and "Universal Prostitution."

After the war, Picabia was more of an agitator than an innovator. His presence in Zurich contributed to the final rout of Dadaism. After 1920, he participated in Paris Dada events, but his influence on French art was very weak. Duchamp came to New York in 1915, carrying sketches and drawings of his most important and enigmatic work: The Large Glass, a great composition of oil on two panels of glass.

Duchamp worked on it between 1915 and 1923, eventually leaving it incomplete. In 1927, the work broke, and ten years later, after patiently pasting each of the pieces together, he adjourned it. Duchamp declared his support for Dada and Surrealism as they were hopeful signs, but they had never attracted him enough to absorb him. The first effects of Duchamp and Picabia on American art were due to their friendship with Man Ray, with whom, in 1920, Duchamp founded an organization to promote the understanding of modern art.

Dadaism in Berlin and Cologne (1918-1920)

In Berlin and Cologne, there was not much painting or sculpture, but their contributions to the development of collage and cartoons were of great consequence.

Dada in Paris (1919-1922)

The rise and decline of Dadaism took place in France. Early researchers in France were Tzara and Picabia. The spirit of Dada was very important in emphasizing the power of the creative principle and the need to give the artist his freedom in all essential psychic aspects.