What do you think?
Rate this book
Dada: The Revolt of Art
Well-written, loaded with information, and with a rich assortment of illustrations, each Discoveries(r) volume is a look at one facet of art, archaeology, music, history, philosophy, popular culture, science, or nature. These innovatively designed, affordably priced, compact paperbacks bring ideas to life and amplify our understanding of civilization in a new way.
Dada was one of the most important and influential movements in 20th century art. Beginning in the anti-establishment climate around World War I, it encompassed painting, sculpture, photography, poetry and language, graphic design, film, performing arts, and criticism in Europe and America.
Dada had an immense effect on art throughout the 20th century. Its emphasis on machines reflected similar mechanistic currents in art through the war years; its appropriation of advertising imagery was revived in Pop Art in later decades; and its anti-aesthetic, anti-object, and anti-art principles persisted in important spurs of artistic theory and practice through the end of the century.
The movement's history is outlined in this concise, readable text - the only short introduction devoted exclusively to Dada, supplemented with essential documents and a useful bibliography.
Dada was one of the most important and influential movements in 20th century art. Beginning in the anti-establishment climate around World War I, it encompassed painting, sculpture, photography, poetry and language, graphic design, film, performing arts, and criticism in Europe and America.
Dada had an immense effect on art throughout the 20th century. Its emphasis on machines reflected similar mechanistic currents in art through the war years; its appropriation of advertising imagery was revived in Pop Art in later decades; and its anti-aesthetic, anti-object, and anti-art principles persisted in important spurs of artistic theory and practice through the end of the century.
The movement's history is outlined in this concise, readable text - the only short introduction devoted exclusively to Dada, supplemented with essential documents and a useful bibliography.
160 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2006
8 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 2, 2023
"- Poezia este un mijloc de a comunica o anumita cantitate de umanitate, de elemente ale vietii, pe care o purtam in noi.
[...] Si cred ca a fost o greseala sa se spuna ca dadaismul, cubismul, futurismul se bazeaza pe un fond comun. Ultimele doua tendinte se sprijineau mai ales pe un principiu al perfectiunii tehnice sau intelectuale, in timp ce dadaismul nu s-a bazat niciodata pe vreo teorie si nu a fost decat un protest." - Tristan Tzara
[...] Si cred ca a fost o greseala sa se spuna ca dadaismul, cubismul, futurismul se bazeaza pe un fond comun. Ultimele doua tendinte se sprijineau mai ales pe un principiu al perfectiunii tehnice sau intelectuale, in timp ce dadaismul nu s-a bazat niciodata pe vreo teorie si nu a fost decat un protest." - Tristan Tzara
November 11, 2023
Interesantă, dar parcă prea departe de spiritul DADA :(
July 25, 2015
Though admittedly a gloss on this complex subject there is still a lot of meat here. “Dada comes from the dictionary. It’s really quite simple. In French it means a small wooden horse. In German: farewell, goodbye, be seeing you. In Romanian: yes, really, you’re right, that’s it, fine, yes, yes, we’re taking care of it.” --Hugo Ball
April 17, 2020
Not a simple narrative style, but it captures very well the radicalism, energy, imagination and eclecticism, as well as the (sometimes violent) clashes and controversy surrounding Dada from its emergence in 1916. The book illuminates the rejection by Dada of the Modernists and Soviet socialist realism, and the schism with the emergent Surrealists, that came to a head around 1923. Dada was borne out of the profound disillusionment following the madness of WW1. With its rejection of bourgeois taste, hierarchy, convention and politics of any kind, Dada inevitably contained the seeds of its own destruction (if it was to remain true to itself). The supplementary section, with correspondence (some letters from key players looking back, decades after the events) plus poems by the leading figures of Dada adds richness. In Dada one can find the origins of the approaches and attitudes of much that calls itself "contemporary", in today's art world.
August 11, 2019
A good read to know the movement, not enough to understand it. The fact that the author overlooks some of the important details makes it a complicated narrative with a struggling audience.
July 2, 2020
Interested in the story of Dadaism, but this was a little short for me absorb. Already forgetting details.
November 18, 2025
Un rezumat foarte bun și accesibil al mișcării dada, mișcare importantă pentru înțelegerea peisajului artistic - cât și socio-politic - interbelic. 4/5
February 4, 2015
A rather short overview of the Dada movement, part of a series of small format introductory paperback books on various artists and schools; very heavily illustrated.
The book consists of four chapters; one on the origins of the movement in Zurich, one on the Berlin (and other German) Dadaists, one on the "Dada diaspora" in New York and elsewhere, and one on the Paris movement and the collapse of Dada.
This was really too concise, and some aspects were dealt with in a way that I found confusing; especially the various schisms and disputes, where I was never sure who was involved on which side and what the differences really were. There was also very little on the relationships of Dada to other artistic and political movements of the time. While I got some idea of the origin and evolution of the movement, I was left wanting to read something more substantial; I will be reading Hans Richter's book next.
The book consists of four chapters; one on the origins of the movement in Zurich, one on the Berlin (and other German) Dadaists, one on the "Dada diaspora" in New York and elsewhere, and one on the Paris movement and the collapse of Dada.
This was really too concise, and some aspects were dealt with in a way that I found confusing; especially the various schisms and disputes, where I was never sure who was involved on which side and what the differences really were. There was also very little on the relationships of Dada to other artistic and political movements of the time. While I got some idea of the origin and evolution of the movement, I was left wanting to read something more substantial; I will be reading Hans Richter's book next.
January 31, 2009
Sitting down to read an informative book about an art movement cover-to-cover? OMG MINDNUMBING. Gets two stars because the photos were interesting. The text was informative, I guess, but also slavishly admiring and replete with adjectives of lavish praise - which I really feel a history should not be!
Read for my WWI Literature class.
Read for my WWI Literature class.
February 2, 2016
I've loved it, loved what they did, and I've almost felt its great life dimension. It's short, but it's a really good introduction for anyone interested in art, especially dada, which is anti-art, anti "ism".
January 26, 2016
one of those compact art books with glossy pages and plenty of pictures, good for a night of reading, after which you can move on with your life, incrementally changed. the writing, while not breathtaking, lets you feel both studious and entertained. the dada documents in the back are well chosen.
November 5, 2007
Pocket sized - image rich - setting out the basics of the movement - i found the layout a bit difficult on the eye at times.
February 17, 2009
A sprightly little introduction to my favorite "ism."
December 18, 2012
A surprisingly useful little book, with a few translations of primary sources in the back, which can be very hard to find in English. Worth the seven bucks I spent on it.
Read
December 5, 2014I liked the layout of this book, lots of great images, compact...documents section at the end was helpful
April 22, 2017
The Cliffs Notes of Dada
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews