Collage

Collage is a way to make art. It means to glue things together. You can use bits of paper or ribbon.

You can even use pieces of old newspapers. Some artists use scraps of wood too.

These small pieces make a new, big picture. It is fun to stick things on! You can make something new from old things.

Collage is a way to make art. The word comes from a term that means "to glue" or "to stick together." An artist can use many different things. They might use magazine scraps, ribbons, or colorful paper. Some artists even use photographs or bits of text.

This art style has a long history. In the 10th century, people in Japan glued paper to surfaces for poems. Later, artists used gold leaf and gems on religious images. In the early 1900s, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque used collage in modern art. Braque used paper that looked like wood. Picasso even pasted oilcloth onto a canvas.

Some artists make 3D art called assemblage. Others make wood collage. Louise Nevelson made large works from scraps of furniture and wood. George Morrison made art from driftwood he found on a shore. These artists show how old bits can make something new and beautiful.

Collage is a special way to make art by sticking different things together. The name comes from a word that means "to glue." Artists can use many items to build a new picture. They might use magazine clippings, newspaper scraps, or colorful ribbons. Some even use photographs, paint, or bits of handmade paper.

By gluing these pieces onto a flat surface like paper or canvas, they create a whole new image. If the art is three-dimensional, it is often called an assemblage.

Making a collage is like solving a puzzle with new pieces. An artist chooses objects that might not seem to belong together. They might take a piece of text or a fragment of another artwork and place it in a new spot.

This process can change how we see everyday things. Some artists even use a method called Cubomania. In this game, they cut an image into squares and put them back together at random. This makes the final work look very different from the original.

This way of making art has been around for a very long time. In the 10th century, people in Japan used glued paper to decorate poems. Later, in the 15th and 16th centuries, artists used gold leaf and gems on religious images. In the 18th century, a woman named Mary Delany made 985 botanical collages. She called them "flower Mosaicks" and started her work at age 72.

Even earlier, a "flap anatomy" sheet was made in 1573. These many examples show that humans have always loved sticking things together.

Modern collage became very famous in the early 1900s. Two artists, Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, helped make it a major part of modern art. Braque used paper that looked like oak wood on his drawings. Picasso was also a pioneer. In 1912, he made a piece called "Still Life with Chair Caning." He pasted a patch of oilcloth with a chair design onto his canvas. These artists showed that art could include pieces of the real world.

Today, collage can be made from almost anything you can find. Some artists, like Louise Nevelson, made huge wood collages from scraps of furniture.

Others, like George Morrison, used driftwood from the shores of Lake Superior. He called his wood collages "paintings made of wood."

You can even find collage in Pop Art. Artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenfeldt used these ideas to make famous works. Whether it is small scraps of paper or large pieces of wood, collage turns ordinary things into art.

Collage is an artistic technique used to create a new whole from an assembly of different forms. The term comes from the French word for "to glue" or "to stick together." While many people use the word to describe two-dimensional works made from flat pieces, there is a related term for three-dimensional art. When an artist builds a work using three-dimensional objects, it is typically called an assemblage.

To make a collage, an artist selects various materials to glue onto a flat substrate like paper or canvas. These materials might include magazine or newspaper clippings, ribbons, or bits of colored paper. An artist may also use paint, photographs, or even portions of other artworks and texts. The process involves choosing these "found objects" and arranging them to create a specific effect. By placing these disparate elements together, the artist creates a new visual experience that combines many different textures and meanings.

There are several distinct ways to approach collage. One method is known as papier collé, which translates to "pasted paper." This was a specific style used by early modern artists. Another method is Cubism collage, where snippets of unrelated subject matter are used to create a deconstructed appearance. There is also a technique called Cubomania. In this method, an artist cuts an image into squares and reassembles them at random or automatically. Some artists even practice canvas collage. This involves gluing separately painted patches of canvas onto the main surface of a larger painting.

Although many associate collage with the 20th century, its history stretches back much further. In the 10th century, Japanese calligraphers used glued paper to decorate surfaces when writing poems. Some of these works are still held in the Nishi Hongan-ji temple. During the 15th and 16th centuries, gold leaf and gemstones were applied to religious icons and coats of arms. In the 18th century, Mary Delany created 985 botanical collages called "flower Mosaicks." Even in the 1860s, early Victorian photocollage was used for hobbyists and portraiture.

Modern collage emerged as a major movement in the early 1900s alongside modernism. Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso are often credited with making it a distinctive part of modern art. Braque began by attaching simulated oak-grain wallpaper to his charcoal drawings. Picasso followed by experimenting with the medium in oil paintings. In 1912, his work "Still Life with Chair Caning" featured a patch of oilcloth pasted onto the canvas. This era changed how artists thought about the relationship between painting and sculpture.

Significant developments occurred as different art movements adopted the technique. Surrealist artists, such as Joseph Cornell, used collage to create strange, dream-like scenes. In the 1960s, the New Realist Exhibition helped launch the Pop Art movement. This included famous artists like Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and James Rosenquist. Wood collage also became a major form. Artist Louise Nevelson created massive, black-painted sculptural wood collages from furniture scraps.

George Morrison later used driftwood from Lake Superior to create "paintings made of wood."

Collage connects the world of art to the world of everyday objects. By using newspaper fragments, artists can bring references to current events or popular culture into their work. This creates a "collision" between the art and the real world. Some scholars debate if using natural, unaltered wood counts as true collage. They argue that true collage requires "signifiers," which are objects that have a known cultural meaning. Because a piece of driftwood from a forest may have no previous human use, it might lack the contextual disruption that defines the traditional collage technique.