Hannah Höch is credited as one of the pioneers of photomontage – the practice of splicing together photographs and printed materials from newspapers, fashion magazines, illustrated journals and other sources to create a new image. For Höch, these unique combinations were a vehicle for incisive social and political commentary; in Heads of State (1920), for example, she pasted cut-outs of German president Friedrich Ebert and defence minister Gustav Noske in their bathing trunks on top of an embroidery pattern dotted with flowers and butterflies in a mockery of the Weimar Republic leaders. Some 80 of Höch’s photomontages are on show in this retrospective at the Belvedere, which is the first in Austria to be dedicated to the artist (21 June–6 October). Also on display are a selection of her drawings, paintings and prints, as well as projections of films by several of her contemporaries, including Hans Richter, Dziga Vertov and Fernand Léger.
Find out more from the Belvedere’s website.
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Around a Red Mouth (1967), Hannah Höch. IFA Art Collection, Germany. Photo: © Christian Vagt/Bildrecht, Vienna 2024
Children (1925), Hannah Höch. IFA Art Collection, Germany. Photo: © Christian Vagt/Bildrecht, Vienna 2024
Never Keep Both Feet on the Ground (1940), Hannah Höch. IFA Art Collection, Germany. Photo: © Christian Vagt/Bildrecht, Vienna 2024