Whittle 1

Christopher R. Whittle Professor Mary Newman Typography November 21, 2011

DADA
The Dada movement began in Zurich around 1911 as a protesting literary movement initiated by Romanian poet Tristan Tzara, and then visualized by sculptor Hans Arp (Johnson 669). Considered an anti-art movement and not officially a movement, Dada (French slang for hobby horse) was a loose series of comic protests against the evils of World War I. Whereas In Germany, Dadaist nihilism was connected to a political stance that embraced the ideals of Communism while ridiculing both German Militarism and Western Capitalism (Wilkins et al. 537). There were no official rules or standards on what Dada really was, albeit influenced by Expressionism, Cubism, and Futurism; responsible for the idea of Surrealism, and selfdestructed when it was in danger of becoming acceptable (Essak). When French painter Marcel Duchamp brought Dada to New York City in 1915, he never considered himself a Dadaist (Wilkins 536). However, his 1912 cubistic piece Nude Descending a Staircase was almost plagiarized by J. Amswold a year later. Amswolds parody Rude decending a staircase was published in the New York Evening Sun on March 20, 1913 (Wilkens et al. 518-9).

Whittle 2
Max Ernst (1891-1976) rejected art and painted on the faction of science. He too was a medical student at one point, and a medical assistant during World War I after studies in psychology at the University of Bonn from 1909-14 (Dave). The Bruhl native first exhibited at Sturm in Berlin (Peak.org). He used science, technology, engineering, and architecture as major topics for his mediums, which included Futurism and Surrealism (Wilkins et al. 549). A major piece from Ernsts collection of

masterpieces is Au rendez-vous des amis, painted in 1922 (see right). As you can see, the painting looks very realistic, but has plenty of futurism throughout the whole composition. All types of different shades and saturations are used in the painting, but most of the gentlemen featured do not appear to be serious. The uses of mountains, a solar system orbiting in the background and the men on the moon sitting in the foreground show that there is a possibility that the moon can be an inhabitable place. As far as we know from history, men were on the moon, but not in regular clothing (Museum Ludwig). While the Dada movement disappeared at the end of World War I, it was revived years later (Johnson 719). One famous neo-Dadaist was Robert Rauschenberg, at painter, typographer, choreographer, and sculptor. Born Milton Ernest Rauschenberg on October 22, 1925 in Port Arthur, Texas, he renamed himself Robert in adulthood when he was drafted into the United States Navy (Kimmelman 3). While diagnosed with
Max Ernst, Au rendez-vous des amis, 1922, oil on canvas, 130 x 195 cm, Museum Ludwig 1976

Whittle 3
dyslexia as an adult, his academic struggles as a child propelled him to be a successful artist (Mattison 35-7). Rauschenberg, a graduate of the Academie Julien Paris, the Kansas City Art Institute, and Black Mountain College in North Carolina (Artnet.com), began his professional practice in a Fulton Street, Lower Manhattan studio with no running water. He debut with White Painting, a white paneled board; Untitled, and Charlene & Collection. His early work was focused on the urban crises in New York City in the 1950s, where businesses were taking over residences (Mattison 41-5). His work was featured in the comics section of The New York Daily News and Life magazine (Mattison 51). An environmentalist, Rauschenberg used recycled material of the streets and from the trash and recycle bins of Manhattan (Mattison 130). His first major sculpture, Curfew, was made of recycled Coke bottles, wood, fabric, and nuts and bolts. It was supposed to be a

reproduction of the Nineteenth century sculpture by Edward Lanseer (Mattison 71). His 1959 sculpture Monogram (see right) claims to be his most famous piece of work, features a Manitoba moose head statue on a collage of items (Wilkins et al. 570). After studio relocations to Pearl Street and to 809 Broadway (Mattison 91), Rauschenberg painted the poster Estate, a collage of urbanism and architecture, albeit the appearance of the Sistine Chapel interior and Michelangelos David Monogram by Robert Rauschenberg (Wilkins et al. 570)

Whittle 4
(Mattison 99). The man who said that Art is social (Mattison 105) participated in the production of the Stoned Moon Series of NASA (Mattison 110), illustrating the book for the agency: The overall appearance of the Stoned Moon Book is one of spontaneity and variety; some pages are nearly empty while others are filled with text and pictures. While the originality of Rauschenbergs approach is noteworthy, his freedom of design has historical antecedents in the graphic interventions of the Dada and Russian Constructivist movements, with which Rauschenberg was familiar (Mattison 128). After nearly twenty years of studio practice in New York City, Rauschenberg moved his studio to Captiva Island, Florida in 1970. That same year, he designed the inaugural Earth Day poster, for which he would also do in 1990, the same year he established the Rauschenberg Foundation (Artnet.com). During the 1980s, supported by the United Nations, he participated in the Rauschenberg Cultural Overseas Interchange (ROCI), where he mortgaged his Florida home to fund it (Mattison 221-9). In 2002, Rauschenberg suffered a stroke that had him paralyzed on the right side of the body. He passed away in 2008 after heart failure at his Captiva Island estate at the age of 82 (Kimmelman 1-6).

Whittle 5 Works Cited Dave. Maxed out on Dada: Avoiding the Degeneracy of Gainful Employment, Madame Pickwick Art Blog. 7/27/2010; Accessed 11/14/2011; HTML Essak, Shelley. Dada-Art History 101 Basics: The Non-Art Movement, About.com Art History. 2011; Accessed 11/14/2011; HTML Johnson, Paul. Art: A New History. New York: Harpercollins, 2003. Print. Kimmelman, Michael. Robert Rauschenberg, American Artist, Dies at 82, The New York Times, 5/14/2008. Accessed 11/15/2011; HTML Mattison, Robert S. Robert Rauschenberg Breaking Boundaries. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. Print. Max Ernst, Peak.org. Accessed 11/14/2011; HTML Max Ernst, Dada and Surrealism, Museum Ludwig. 2011, Accessed 11/14/2011; HTML. Robert Rauschenberg Biography, Artnet.com. New York: 2011; Accessed 11/14/2011; HTML. Wilkens, David G. et al. Art Past, Art Present. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: PearsonPrentice Hall, 2009; Print.