11 Artists Revisiting the Gradient in Contemporary Art
Trends in Contemporary Art
Top 25 Collage Artists in the World
A Complete Survey
Introduction: What is Collage Art?
In the 21st century, collage has comfortably established itself as a form of contemporary art. But what is collage exactly, and how did it become part of high art?
Collage is an art form and technique in which individual pieces or materials—think of pieces of paper or photographs—are assembled into a new and autonomous artwork with a predominantly two-dimensional character.
We stress the two-dimensional character of Collage Art, hence its three-dimensional sibling: Assemblage Art. In this case, the artist creates rather a sculpture through assemblage instead of a painting or a work on paper. However, collage artists can still implement three-dimensional objects onto their two-dimensional surfaces. In doing so, the distinction between collage and assemblage can often be fluid.
We travel back to the start of the 20th century in France, where collage would find its way to the realms of high art in 1912, orchestrated by Cubism’s greatest masters, Pablo Picasso & Georges Braque (cf. infra). Braque’s Fruit Dish and Glass (see featured image at 24. Georges Braque) and Picasso’s Still Life with Chair Caning (see featured image at 1. Pablo Picasso) are seen as the earliest forms of collage art in Western art history, resulting in the term ‘collage’ derived from the French word coller—which means ‘to glue’ or ‘to stick.’
Ever since, Collage Art would play a role in art history, as a favorite art form for Cubists, Dadaists, and Pop Artists, or in today’s art world—think of the digital collages by Jorg Karg or collage as a strategy for painters in an era dominated by appropriation and the recycling of existing images. As a result, in this article, we are pleased to present an extensive and reasoned selection of the most important collage artists in the world.
1. Pablo Picasso
We open our list with one of the pioneers mentioned above of Collage Art, the one and only Pablo Picasso. Born in 1881 in Malaga, Spain, and passed away in 1973 in Mougins, France, Picasso was a true Modernist and innovator. The iconic artist pushed painting towards representational abstraction at the start of the previous century, pioneering Cubism and, as mentioned in our introduction, Collage Art.
Still-life with Chair Caning, Spring from 1912 is one of the earliest examples of collage as high art in Western art history, as Picasso incorporates a printed oil cloth and an actual rope onto a two-dimensional surface.[1]
For further reading on Pablo Picasso, we highly recommend Taschen’s Pablo Picasso: 1881–1973 from the Big Series Art.
2. Robert Rauschenberg
Born in 1925 in Texas and passed away in 2008 in Florida, Robert Rauschenberg is an American artist best known for pioneering Pop Art in the 1960s. He incorporated popular culture with technical experimentation, creating characteristic postmodern artworks marked by eclecticism.
Besides his three-dimensional works and silkscreen paintings, Rauschenberg was also a true collage artist, using photographs from books and magazines as his source material, deconstructing the images before reconstructing them using paint as a visual strategy to create a coherent artwork on paper.[2]
For further reading on Robert Rauschenberg, we highly recommend the monographic publication Robert Rauschenberg
.
3. John Baldessari
After the pioneers of Cubism and Pop Art, a pioneer of Conceptual Art is next. Born in 1931 in California and passed away in 2020 in Los Angeles, John Baldessari implemented collage in his idea-based practice.
Baldessari transformed popular culture and art historical iconography by creating unique and authentic conceptual artworks based upon meditations on the image, language, and appropriation. His Intersection Series (see image) is one of the most evident examples of how Baldessari incorporates the possibilities of the medium collage in a conceptual context, using a cross structure to create new images as intersections, followed by a series of new possible analogies for interpretation.[3]
For further reading on John Baldessari, we highly recommend his impressive six volume Catalogue Raisonné.
4. David Hockney
We encounter a second Pop Artist in our list, with the most dominant British protagonist for the art movement in question and a true world citizen, but above all, one of the most iconic painters in the world, David Hockney. Born in 1937 in Bradford, England, and currently residing and working in Normandy, France, Hockney created a series of iconic photo collages in the 1980s.
The British artist and painter had always been intrigued by photography, optics, its influence on art and painting, and the human perception of our surroundings. With his photographic collages, Hockney experiments with the possibility of fragmenting a scene into several pieces, achieving a result that is—according to Hockney—more similar to how the eye works instead of viewing a single-shot photograph of a scene.[4]
For further reading on David Hockney, we highly recommend the monographic publication David Hockney by Tate Publishing (2017).
5. Man Ray
There are still two other art movements that adore collage art, which we have yet to see a representative of; Surrealism and Dada. Our next artist is, in fact, a key figure for both. Born in 1890 in Philadelphia, the United States of America, and passed away in 1976 in Paris, France, Man Ray is one of the most influential artists of the first half of the 20th century.
His complex and experimental body of works encompassed various media. Think of painting, sculpture, photography, early video art, printmaking, and also collage. The visual strategies and possibilities of Collage Art are perfect for a Dadaist and Surrealist such as Man Ray. It enables the artist to create absurd, surreal encounters within the image, such as his humorous artwork Les Filled des Noix, pasting nuts on top of two female figures, originating from a different source.[5]
For further reading on Man Ray, we highly recommend the monographic publication Man Ray published by Skira Editor.
6. Henri Matisse
Born in 1869 in Le Cateau-Cambrésis and passed away in 1954 in Nice, Henri Matisse was a French painter, sculptor, draftsman, printmaker, and collage artist during his final decade, associated with Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Fauvism.
Matisse is, of course, best known as a Fauvist painter, internationally lauded for his iconic painting La Danse from 1910. However, his typical use of bright colors and his early influence on textile patterns would result in radically innovative collages best known as his cut-outs. During the 1940s, Matisse used cut paper as his medium before reassembling them into a vibrant and lively collage with a radically new overall aesthetic.[6]
For further reading on Henri Matisse’s collages, we highly recommend the monographic publication Henri Matisse: Cut-Outs.
7. Martha Rosler
We return to the contemporary era with one of the most iconic female artists of Feminist Art. Born in 1943 in Brooklyn, Martha Rosler is an American artist who achieved worldwide recognition with her photomontages, using a collage technique with photography.
She fights social injustice, simultaneously tackling issues in politics on war and politics on identity. She captures the contrast between the horrors of war and women’s domestic lives in a single picture. A domestic scene takes place in an often stereotypical manner in which the role of women in society is the central subject. Simultaneously, we encounter cruel war scenes instead of seeing a beautiful garden or urban environment through the windows of those American interiors.[7]
For further reading on Martha Rosler, we highly recommend the monographic publication Martha Rosler: Irrespective.
8. Max Ernst
Born in 1891 in Brühl, Germany, and passed away in 1976 in Paris, France, Max Ernst is a German visual artist and poet associated with an array of art movements encompassing Expressionism, Dada, Surrealism, and more.
In 1919, the same year he co-founded the Cologne Dada movement, Max Ernst started to produce his first collages. Today, Ernst is internationally lauded for his intriguing collages on paper – strongly marked by Dada and Surrealism – using photographic prints, pieces of paper, and often manipulating the collage with ink.[8]
For further reading on Max Ernst, we highly recommend the monographic publication Max Ernst: A Retrospective.
9. Kara Walker
Born in 1969 in California, Kara Walker is a renowned contemporary artist who explores race, gender, sexuality, and more. The nature of her most recognizable motif, the silhouetted figures, results in a logical choice of collage as her medium.
Think of the collage Replacement Parts from 2021. Even more, she also dares to implement the same strategy on different surfaces. For instance, directly and boldly on the gallery wall.[9]
For further reading on Kara Walker, we highly recommend the monographic publication Kara Walker: A Black Hole Is Everything a Star Longs to Be.
10. Richard Hamilton
Born in 1922 in London and passed away in 2011 in Northend, the United Kingdom, Richard Hamilton was one of the earliest English artists to produce Pop Art, strongly inspired by the ubiquitous Marcel Duchamp, among others.
Some of his most iconic works are created using collage as his primary strategy and medium; think of his famous Study for Fashion Plate from 1969 or one of the earliest works of Pop Art, Just What is it That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? from 1956 (see image above).[10]
For further reading on Richard Hamilton, we highly recommend Modern World: The Art of Richard Hamilton
11. Jean Arp
Born in 1886 in Strasbourg, France, and passed away in 1966 in Basel, Switzerland, Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp—better known as Jean Arp—was a French-Swiss artist and poet lauded for his artistic practice as a painter and sculptor.
In 1915 when he arrived in Zürich, Arp created his characteristic collages, often in collaboration with Sophie Taeuber, his wife. Jean Arp and his collages shift between Surrealism and Dadaism throughout the first half of the 20th century, making Arp one of his generation’s best-known artists.[11]
For further reading on Jean Arp, we highly recommend the monographic publication Hans Arp.
12. Barbara Kruger
Born in 1945 in Newark, New Jersey, Barbara Kruger is an American artist best known for her photo and text collages from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s as one of the most important figures of the Feminist Art movement.
Her characteristic use of large-scale black and white images, and text, take on photography and typography with collage. She examines photographs from mass media, self-identity, public opinion, and gender differences concerning media presentation.[12]
For further reading, we highly recommend the monographic publication Barbara Kruger
13. Wangechi Mutu
Next, we encounter the collages of one of the most influential African painters today, Wangechi Mutu. Born in 1972 in Nairobi, Kenya, and currently residing and working in New York City, Mutu’s multidisciplinary practice explores violence and misrepresentations afflicting contemporary women.
She creates and depicts distorted female figures and forms; think of her mixed media collage on paper from 2006, titled Mask. Wangechi Mutu uses her art to fight against inequality and the lingering effects of globalization and consumerism.[13]
For further reading on Wangechi Mutu, we highly recommend Wangechi Mutu from the Phaidon Contemporary Artists Series.
14. Bruce Connor
Born in 1933 in Kansas and passed away in 2008 in California, Bruce Conner is an American artist best known for his multimedia practice. However, in this case, we’ll focus on his impressive body of collage artworks.
Conner tackles the post-war context of American culture, marked by the Cold War, the ascension of a consumer society, and increasing materialism. With his collages and more expansive oeuvre, he searches for the depths of the American subconscious.[14]
For further reading on Bruce Conner, we highly recommend the monographic publication Bruce Conner: It’s All True.
15. Geta Bratescu
Born in 1926 in Ploiesti and passed away in 2018 in Bucharest, the Romanian artist Geta Brătescu was one of Romania’s first representatives of Conceptual Art. She grew up during the Communist regime and developed a deeply personal oeuvre taking on identity, gender, and the conceptual notion of dematerialization in art.
These tendencies are also noticeable in her collage artworks. With the Power of the Line, we can identify the influence of her career as a graphic designer, using simple forms, shapes, and lines as a tool for self-expression and an often oblique form of political subversion.[15]
For further reading on Geta Brătescu, we highly recommend the monographic publication Geta Bratescu: Game of Forms.
16. Goshka Macuga
Born in 1967 in Warsaw, Poland, and currently residing and working in London, the United Kingdom, Goshko Macuga is one of her generation’s most important collage artists.
The starting point is always based on historical and archival research. She questions historiography and the issues of our time, including political structures.[16]
For further reading on Goshka Macuga, we highly recommend the monographic publication Goshka Macuga: Exhibit A.
17. Nancy Spero
Next, we have Nancy Spero, born in 1926 in Cleveland, Ohio, and passed away in 2009 in Manhattan, New York. The American artist is best known for her public combat, fighting racism, violence, and sexism with art.
The feminist artist created during the late 1960s her iconic War Series, contesting the war terrors of the Vietnam War with gouache paintings, ink paintings on paper, and collages. Further, she actively fought the historical oppression of women, empowering them as time passed by depicting women as heroic figures instead of fragile victims.[17]
For further reading on Nancy Spero, we highly recommend the monographic publication, Nancy Spero, from the Phaidon Contemporary Artist Series.
18. Henrik Oleson
Born in 1967 in Esbjerg, Denmark, and currently residing and working in Berlin, Germany, Henrik Oleson is a neo-conceptual artist covering a wide range of subjects, from legislation to natural history.
By manner of well-founded research, the artist creates neo-conceptual artworks in the form of posters and text, collages, and sculptures—often using ready-mades—and in situ installations. With his collage works, such as Untitled from 2013 (see image above), Oleson takes on homophobia or racism by arranging daily objects and combining text in the artwork.[18]
19. León Ferrari
Next, we travel to Argentina, where Léon Ferrari was born in 1920 and passed away in 2013, both in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires. As we know, his subversive practice spans various media. Think of the usual suspects such as sculpture, drawing, painting, and film, but also poetry, mail art, sound art, assemblage art, and of course, collage.
With Ferrari’s collages, the artist often incorporates language or calligraphy, examining power dynamics and social hierarchies, often related to religion, the state, or both. For instance, with Untitled from 1987, Ferrari uses the pictorial tradition of the Ascension of the Virgin Mary, depicting two angels along the sides of a missile taking off into the sky, to critique militarism and conservative entities who remain silent.[19]
For further reading on Léon Ferrari, we highly recommend The Words of Others: León Ferrari and Rhetoric in Times of War.
20. David Maljkovic
Born in 1973 in Rijeka and currently residing and working in Zagreb, the Croatian artist examines his history, growing up during Tito’s regime in former Yugoslavia, about the present and also the future.
He distinctively works formally and conceptually within the artistic tradition of collage art. By juxtapositions and displacement, Maljkovic envisions new political and conceptual possibilities. Recurring counterparts are the archive versus the collage or fiction versus documentary.[20]
For further reading on David Maljkovic, we strongly recommend David Maljkovic: In Low Resolution.
21. Kurt Schwitters
Born in 1887 in Hanover, Germany, and passed away in 1948 in Kendal, the United Kingdom, Kurt Schwitters was a leading figure for Dada but is also associated with Expressionism, Surrealism, and his very own art movement Merz—a series of collages and assemblages constructed with found materials and trash.
Schwitters is best known for these collages and assemblages. He transforms imagery and text from printed media into dynamic compositions. Please think of the collage For Holy Days from 1947, produced shortly before he passed.[21]
For further reading on Kurt Schwitters, we highly recommend the monographic publication Kurt Schwitters.
22. Hannah Höch
Next, we have Hannah Höch, born in 1889 in Gotha and passed away in 1978 in Berlin. The German artist is one of the most influential female artists of the first half of the 20th century. Today, she remains an icon across the globe for her impressive body of collage artworks.
Hannah Höch collected source material feverishly, resulting in an artist archive comprising over 12.000 items. Her collages are marked by expression and self-portrayal, using both representational and abstract elements in her oeuvre, being a stylistic pluralist pur sang.[22]
For further reading on Hannah Höch, we highly recommend the recently published monograph Hannah Höch by Prestel.
23. John Stezaker
Born in 1949 in Worcester and currently residing and working in London, John Stezaker is a British collage artist re-examining various relationships to the photographic image. For Stezaker, a photograph can be a documentation of the truth or reality, a purveyor of memory, or a symbol of modern and contemporary culture.
The British artist appropriates found imagery from magazines, postcards, and books, implementing them as ready-mades onto its new surface. The content and context of the juxtaposed images result in witty and poignant analogies for meaning. Most often, John Stezaker aims to overlap one image above another, resulting in a disjointed harmony with new correlations, visually and conceptually.[23]
For further reading on John Stezaker, we highly recommend the monographic publication John Stezaker: At the Edge of Pictures.
24. Georges Braque
As we get closer to the end of our list, we encounter the second name of our introduction, Picasso’s friend and colleague who pioneered Cubism and Collage art, Georges Braque. Born in 1882 in Argenteuil and passed away in 1963 in Paris, Braque revolutionized painting in the 20th century and introduced collage to the realms of high art.
The French artist arguably created the first true collage artwork in 1912 with Fruit Dish and Glass (see image) in 1912, using cut-and-pasted printed wallpaper, imitating a wood-grained structure, and implementing it in his composition on paper.[24]
For further reading on Georges Braque, we highly recommend the monographic publication Georges Braque: Life and Work.
25. Adrian Ghenie
Born in 1977 in Baia Mare, Romania, and currently residing and working in Berlin, Germany, Adrian Ghenie is one of the most important painters of his generation and a leading figure in the remarkable upswing of Cluj as a vibrant art city.
Dynamic and collage-like compositions mark his painterly practice, often a result of copying and pasting, both digitally and manually. With Study for Bikini from 2018, we recognize the dynamic shapes and composition we encounter in his paintings, illustrating the interaction between painting and collage.[25]
For further reading on Adrian Ghenie, we highly recommend the monographic publication Adrian Ghenie: Paintings 2014-2019.
Notes:
[1] Artsy, Pablo Picasso at https://www.artsy.net/artist/pablo-picasso consulted 15/03/2022.
[2] Artsy, Robert Rauschenberg at https://www.artsy.net/artist/robert-rauschenberg consulted 15/03/2022.
[3] Artsy, John Baldessari at https://www.artsy.net/artist/john-baldessari consulted 20/12/2021.
[4] Tate, David Hockney at https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/david-hockney-1293 consulted 23/03/2021.
[5] Artsy, Man Ray at https://www.artsy.net/artist/man-ray/ consulted 15/03/2022.
[6] MoMA, Henri Matisse at https://www.moma.org/artists/3832 consulted 15/03/2022.
[7] Artnet, Martha Rosler at http://www.artnet.com/artists/martha-rosler/biography consulted 2/12/2021.
[8] Guggenheim, Max Ernst at https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/max-ernst consulted 15/03/2022.
[9] Art21, Kara Walker at https://art21.org/artist/kara-walker/ consulted 18/03/2022.
[10] Artnet, Richard Hamilton at http://www.artnet.com/artists/richard-hamilton/ consulted 18/03/2022.
[11] Guggenheim, Jean Arp at https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/jean-arp consulted 18/03/2022.
[12] The Broad, Barbara Kruger at https://www.thebroad.org/art/barbara-kruger consulted 18/03/2022.
[13] Artsy, Wangechi Mutu at https://www.artsy.net/artist/wangechi-mutu consulted 2/02/2022.
[14] Artsy, Bruce Conner at https://www.artsy.net/artist/bruce-conner consulted 18/03/2022.
[15] Hauser & Wirth, Bratescu at https://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/2861-geta-bratescu/ consulted 18/03/2022.
[16] Kate Macgarry, Goshka Macuga at https://www.katemacgarry.com/artists/41-goshka-macuga/ consulted 18/03/2022.
[17] Artnet, Biography – Nancy Spero at http://www.artnet.com/artists/nancy-spero/biography consulted 18/03/2022.
[18] SMAK, Henrik Olesen at https://smak.be/en/henrik-olesen consulted 18/03/2022.
[19] Artsy, Léon Ferrari at https://www.artsy.net/artist/leon-ferrari/ consulted 18/03/2022.
[20] Sprüth Magers, David Maljkovic at https://spruethmagers.com/artists/david-maljkovic/ consulted 18/03/2022.
[21] Artsy, Kurt Schwitters at https://www.artsy.net/artist/kurt-schwitters consulted 18/03/2022.
[22] Berlinische Galerie, Estate Hannah Höch at https://berlinischegalerie.de/en/collection/our-collection/estate-hannah-hoech/ consulted 18/03/2022.
[23] Saatchi Gallery, John Stezaker at https://www.saatchigallery.com/artist/john_stezaker consulted 18/03/2022.
[24] Artsy, Georges Braque at https://www.artsy.net/artist/georges-braque/ consulted 18/03/2022.
[25] Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Adrian Ghenie at https://ropac.net/artists/44-adrian-ghenie/ consulted 16/11/2020.
Last Updated on September 25, 2024
Sylvia Walker
Sylvia Walker (b. 1986, US) is an art historian, essayist, art critic, and curator. After contributing to numerous publications, and curating exhibitions in the United States of America and beyond, she currently works as the assistant director of Contemporary Art Issue (CAI).
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