The art movement known as Dada emerged in Europe as a direct reaction to the First World War with artists responding to the horror and irrationality of war by rejecting traditional reason and logic and embracing absurdity. It used satire, parody, and provocative public performances to critique capitalism, nationalism, and traditional values. This political dimension distinguished Dada from other purely aesthetic movements.
While it was short lived, its hey day spanning 1916 to 1924, Dadaism proved to be one of the most revolutionary art movements of the early twentieth century, going on to influence artists, poets and even musicians into the modern day.
What is the Dada Art Movement?
With the First World War raging across Europe, numerous artists, writers, and intellectuals sought refuge in Switzerland - a neutral country. Zurich, the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the country, became the hub for those fleeing the horrors of the war.
The birth of the Dada art movement has been traced back to the opening of the Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich, in February 1916. Here, Hugo Ball (author and poet) and Emmy Hemmings (poet and performer) created a space where the city’s more radical artists could gather, perform and exhibit their work.
Hugo Ball, founder of the Dada movement/Wikimedia Commons
The name "Dada" itself embodied the movement's philosophy – it was reportedly chosen by Tristan Tzara randomly sticking a knife into a dictionary, though other origin stories exist. Believed to be a childish word by many, in French, "dada" means "hobbyhorse," while in German it suggests a foolish naivety. This embrace of nonsense and irrationality became central to the movement's identity.
Dada's influence extended beyond visual art into literature, poetry, and performance. Artists such as Hugo Ball and Tristan Tzara developed "sound poetry" that emphasised phonetic sounds over meaning, while others created manifestos and publications that mixed typography and graphic design in revolutionary ways.
'Constellation According to the Laws of Chance' by Jean Arp (Hans Arp), 1930/Wikimedia Commons
Among the original contributors to the Cabaret Voltaire were Hans (Jean) Arp (painter and sculptor), Tristan Tzara (poet and writer), Marcel Janco (visual artist and architect) and Richard Huelsenbeck (poet and writer).
What Makes the Dada Art Movement Influential?
As the First World War continued, the art and performances within the Cabaret Voltaire could not be sustained and by the summer of 1916 the cabaret closed. While the artists in Zurich may have lost their spiritual home, the art movement had already moved beyond the city, spawning new ways of expression in Paris, Berlin, and New York.
In principle, I am against principles
The Berlin Dada art movement also railed against the horrors of the First World War, but the movement was far more political in nature. Artists George Grosz, Max Beckmann, and Otto Dix critiqued German society through their paintings while Hannah Höch (artist) and John Heartfield (visual artist) created a brand-new language of politically charged photomontages professing their opposition to the Weimar government.
The peak of the Dada art movement in Berlin was in the summer of 1920, when the First International Dada Exchange (Erste Internationale Dada-Messe) took place. The exhibition was held in two rooms at the Galerie Dr. Otto Burchard with dozens of Dada artists from around the world exhibiting 174 objects and works.
Grand opening of the first Dada exhibition, Berlin, 5 June 1920/Wikimedia Commons
Berlin may have been the home of political Dada, but the art movement in Paris took on a more literary style. André Breton (writer and poet), Francis Picabia (painter and writer), and others pushed the boundaries of poetry and visual art through techniques such as automatism and chance operations to create new ways of working.
Did you know?
The Dadaists were the first performance artists and precursors of slam poets
Dadaists enjoying challenging convention, so much so that artists would sometimes walk into taverns, scream "DADA!" and run off
Hugo Ball, Dada's founder, eventually left the movement to go into exile in Ticino, where he turned to mystical Catholicism
In New York, Marcel Duchamp (painter and sculptor), originally from France, introduced the revolutionary concept of “readymades” - or as the artist claimed: "everyday objects raised to the dignity of a work of art by the artist's act of choice”.
Regardless of where the Dadaists landed, central to its ethos was its anti-art stance. The Dadaists didn't seek to create beautiful or meaningful works in any traditional sense. Instead, the movement aimed to question the very nature of art and its role in society. It embraced chance, nonsense, and irrationality, directly challenging the rationalist thinking they blamed for society's ills.
What Are the Most Influential Dada Artworks?
‘Fountain' (1917) by Marcel Duchamp
Perhaps the most infamous readymade artwork ever created, this porcelain urinal signed with the pseudonym "R. Mutt" challenged traditional definitions of art and became an icon of the Dada movement. When submitted to an exhibition, it sparked intense debate about what constitutes art.
Marcel Duchamp's Fountain, 1917/Wikimedia Commons
‘Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany’ (1919) by Hannah Höch
This complex photomontage combines images from mass media with political imagery, creating a critique of Weimar German society. It's considered a masterpiece of Dada photomontage and feminist art.
'Construction For Noble Ladies' (1919) by Kurt Schwitters
This assemblage piece exemplifies the ‘found object’ style of sculpture, as it is constructed from a variety of broken and disjointed materials: a funnel, a metal toy train, broken wheels, and other scrap objects. It also includes a horizontal portrait of a noble lady, from which the piece gets its title.
Construction for Noble Ladies, Kurt Schwitters, 1919/Wikimedia Commons
‘Mechanical Head’ (1919) by Raoul Hausmann
This assemblage sculpture consists of a wooden hairdresser's dummy head with various measuring devices and mechanical parts attached to it, critiquing modern society's mechanisation and rationalism.
Rayograph (1922) by Man Ray
Man Ray created a series of works using photographic paper, on which the artist placed objects and then exposed them to light. Tristan Tzara coined the phrase ‘rayographs’ after the artist. These pieces exemplified the notion of Dada, as they often represented mundane or random objects that did not seem connected.
What Became of the Dada Art Movement?
The movement's formal end is usually dated to around 1924, when Surrealism emerged as a more organised movement. However, its influence on later art movements cannot be overstated. Surrealism, which emerged in the 1920s, grew directly from Dada, with many artists participating in both movements.
Hannah Hoch by Raoul Hausmann, 1915, oil on canvas - Germanisches Nationalmuseum - Nuremberg, Germany/Wikimedia Commons
Today, contemporary artists continue to draw on Dadaist strategies, whether leaning into the absurd or simply making seemingly random connections between art and the world around them.
Beyond visual art, Dadaist techniques of chance and automatism influenced the development of surrealism and experimental poetry, while in music, the emphasis on noise and chance operations underpins many experimental and electronic music projects.
Ultimately, while modern artists may not directly link themselves with the Dada art movement, its revolutionary approach of ‘anti-art’ and going against traditional conceits of what is art, is still being played out to this day.
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