Understanding the Art Movements of Futurism and Dadaism

Futurism and Dadaism were revolutionary art movements that emerged in the early 20th century, with Futurism celebrating modernity, speed, and technology, while Dadaism reacted against the horrors of World War I with a spirit of anti-art and absurdity.

“We Futurists are trying with the power of intuition, to place ourselves at the very center of things, in such a way that our ego forms with their own uniqueness a single complex. We give plastic planes a plastic expansion in space, obtaining this feeling of something in perpetual motion which is peculiar to everything living.”

Carlo Carrà

Futurism is perhaps one of the most significant Italian avant-garde movements of the 20th century. It was founded in Milan by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti who launched the Futurist Manifesto on 5 February 1909. Futurism was an artistic and social movement that celebrated advanced technology and urban modernity.

Artistic Style: Dynamic compositions, blurring of lines to convey motion, and focus on urban landscapes and technology. 

Examples: Umberto Boccioni’s “Dynamism of a Cyclist”. 

Influence: Inspired by the dynamism of the machine age and the rapid changes of the modern world. 

Other Forms: Futurism extended beyond visual arts into literature, theater, music, and even architecture. 

Russian Futurism: A separate movement, though influenced by the Italian Futurists, embraced the political and social visions of the emerging communist movement in Russia. 

Dadaism

Dadaism was an avant-garde art movement that emerged in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I as a radical rejection of the war, bourgeois culture, and traditional artistic values. Founded by a group of exiled artists and intellectuals—including Hugo Ball, Tristan Tzara, and Hans Arp—Dada was defined by its anarchic spirit, absurdity, and disdain for rationality. The movement’s name itself, Dada, was chosen at random from a dictionary, reflecting its anti-establishment ethos. Dadaists sought to dismantle conventional artistic norms through collage, photomontage, ready-mades, and performance art, embracing chance, nonsense, and provocation as creative methods.

Dada quickly spread to Berlin, Paris, and New York, influencing artists like Marcel Duchamp, Hannah Höch, and Francis Picabia. It challenged the idea of art as something sacred or meaningful, instead embracing chaos and subversion. Duchamp’s Fountain (a signed urinal) exemplified the movement’s irreverence, questioning what could be considered art. Though short-lived, Dada’s impact was profound, laying the groundwork for later movements such as Surrealism and conceptual art. Its spirit of rebellion and critique of mass culture continues to resonate in contemporary art, punk aesthetics, and political activism.

Kurt Schwitters’ “Merz Picture 32A. The Cherry Picture”

Completed in 1921, this collage by Kurt Schwitters incorporates found objects, paper fragments, and other materials. Schwitters termed his art “Merz,” reflecting his unique approach to Dada principles by transforming everyday detritus into art.

Raoul Hausmann’s “Mechanical Head (The Spirit of Our Age)”

Created around 1920, this assemblage by Raoul Hausmann features a wooden mannequin head adorned with various objects, symbolizing the mechanization and dehumanization of society.

Marcel Duchamp’s “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even” (The Large Glass)

This intricate piece, created between 1915 and 1923, consists of oil, varnish, lead foil, lead wire, and dust on two glass panels. It portrays an abstract scene of a bride and her nine bachelors, exploring themes of desire and mechanical reproduction. The artwork is part of the permanent collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Hannah Höch’s “Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada Through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany”

This 1919 photomontage by German Dadaist Hannah Höch critiques Weimar Germany’s political and social issues. By assembling images from newspapers and magazines, Höch created a chaotic yet insightful commentary on her contemporary society.

These artworks highlight Dadaism’s challenge to traditional art forms and its embrace of absurdity and anti-establishment sentiments.