The Dada Spirit

by Emmanuelle de L'Ecotais

Dada. This onomatopoeia suggesting a child's babbling started one of the most important mutations in the history of art. But what is Dada? Born of the First World War, Dada is a movement bringing together both artists and writers. From Zurich in 1916, it spread rapidly to New York, Berlin, Hanover, Cologne and finally to Paris, where it died in 1924. Because of the diversity of its creations, the Dada movement is not an "ism" of the art there is no Dada "style," although a single spirit does govern the works of this movement, which is at once anti-conformist, anti-bourgeois and above all, anti-artistic.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

80 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Emmanuelle de l’Ecotais is curator for photography at the Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris since 2001. She has a PhD in History of Art, and is the specialist of Man Ray’s work. She has organized a large number of exhibitions, including Man Ray, la photographie à l’envers (Centre Pompidou/Grand Palais 1998), Alexandre Rodtchenko, La Photographie dans l’œil (Musée d’art moderne, 2007), Objectivités, La Photographie à Düsseldorf (ARC, 2008), Henri Cartier-Bresson, L’Imaginaire d’après nature (Musée d’Art moderne, 2009), Bernhard et Anna Blume, Polaroïd (Maison européenne de la photographie, 2010), Linder, Femme-Objet(Musée d’Art moderne/ARC, 2013), Jean-Philippe Charbonnier, l’œil de Paris (CMP, Paris, 2014). She is the author of number of essays and books, among them L’Esprit Dada (Editions Assouline, 1999), Man Ray (Taschen, 2000), Man Ray – Rayographies (Editions Léo Scheer, 2002), and is regularly member of different acquisitions committees (Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, 2004-2007, Maison européenne de la photographie, 2007-2010). Also part of the jury for Paris Jeunes Talents in visual arts, Prix pour la photographie of the Royal Monceau Hotel, Prix pour la photographie of La Fondation des Treilles, Prix de photographie Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière of the Academie Des Beaux-Arts. She has also been the artistic adviser for the Prix HSHC pour la Photographie in 2013.

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A passable introduction to a complicated topic.

[Kelly R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non-Fiction
Short recap of Dada in the interwar period followed by an incredible conglomeration of pieces of art from the era.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Resumen de lo que fue el movimiento Dadá acompañado de bastantes ilustraciones, que, junto con el alegato final de ¡que viva Dadá!, son lo mejor del libro.