Back to collage – why collage art is enjoying another revival
Making a collage is a great way of introducing children to the joy of art. But it needn’t just be the starting point of a love affair with art; artists such as Picasso and Matisse created great collages at the peak of their careers!
Children and adults love being given free artistic reign to make a collage – it’s an art form with so few rules; it’s wonderful to express yourself by making one.
Crafts supplies company Baker Ross has lots of craft ideas and collage essentials – paper, glue, feathers, adhesive jewels etc. – to provide inspiration to collage students young and old.
And, because of a new exhibition, there could be another revival of interest in this skilful art form. Transmitter/Receiver is currently showing at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art until November, after which time it will be going on tour to Walsall, Carlisle and Lincoln.
Postcards, newspaper headlines, rose petals and elephant dung (!) are just some of the materials used in the exhibition which traces the use of collage in British art.
A brief history of collage
The term collage was coined by the great artist Pablo Picasso (and others) at the beginning of the 20th century when collage became an integral part of modern art. Picasso is thought by many to be the first artist to use collage in paintings rather than just in drawings.
Collage was around long before Picasso – it was used by the ancient Chinese shortly after paper was invented in that country around 200BC. Japanese calligraphers popularised collage further in the 10th century and in the 19th century collages were becoming common in photo albums – collages of photos are still common on fridges and teenagers’ bedroom walls!
It was also in the 19th century that collage methods started to help illustrate books by the likes of children’s author Hans Christian Andersen.
Picasso
Then came Picasso, who in 1912, inspired by a fellow artist’s experiments with collages, pasted a patch of oilcloth with a chair-cane design onto the canvas of a piece entitled Still Life with Chair Caning.
Matisse
The work of French artist Henri Matisse also owes a debt to collage. Matisse was a keen student of ‘decoupage’ collage; an art form which involves cutting and layering multiple copies of the same image to add extra depth. Matisse’s most famous piece of art made using this cut-out collage technique was 1952′s Blue Nude II; a picture of a supple blue lady, copies of which adorn many a living room wall.
Matisse and Picasso’s successes with collages inspired many contemporaries and new generations of artists to put down their paint brushes, pick up found objects and take up this innovative art form. David Hockney, Damien Hirst and Man Ray are (or were) all converts to collage.
Baker Ross has all the collage essentials children and adults need to create new collage masterpieces. Colourful collage feathers are fantastic additions to any collage – they are so tactile and eye-catching. If there are any left over at the end of a collage session they can then be used on hats and costumes.
Self adhesive acrylic jewels also make great embellishments for works of art; their varied sizes are so easy on the eye.
Once you have craft essentials such as mosaic stone tiles, glue sticks, wooden craft sticks and coloured paper you just need to add a little imagination to follow in the footsteps of Picasso and Matisse.
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David Hockney on What’s Unphotographable
