Hannah Höch and Das Schöne Mädchen
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| Höch, Hanna. Das Schöne Mädchen. 1920. (Image from Artstor) |
Hannah Höch
(Image from The Art Story)
Artist Background
German artist Hannah Höch was born in Gotha, 1889. As a young girl, her father emphasized the traditional role of a woman and discouraged her from pursuing art (though her mother was a painter herself). She began to study glass design and graphic arts throughout her education. However, when World War I broke out in Germany, she put her education on pause to join the Red Cross. Later she began working for a magazine and newspaper publisher. In 1918, Höch first discovered the practice of photomontage or collage, which was the basis of her later work. She was fascinated with the practice of reframing and altering images from their original states and placing them in different contexts. She was considered to be a part of the Dada movement, though much of her work was overshadowed and unrecognized due to the largely male dominated movement. The Dada movement began as a response to the breakout of World War I and had satirical, critical themes of the war. Creators of Dada were largely anti-war and anti-bourgeoisie.
Artwork Background
Though she was a part of early Dadaism, she later became uninterested in being associated with the movement, largely due to sexism from the male artists. Still, however, the theme of being socially critical stuck with her art. Höch was critical of German society following WWI, especially the idea of "the new woman" which became more prevalent as women's roles began to shift from tradition through their attainment of voting rights. Though many advances were made in deconstructing society's idea of a woman's role, much improvement was still needed, as Höch often explained and displays in her works. Das Schöne Mädchen, which in English means "the beautiful woman," was created in 1920 and is an example of photomontage. Much like in the United States, many women in Germany were filling men's jobs in the industrial world as men went to war, just a few years before this piece was created.
"They continued for a long time to look on us women artists as charming and gifted amateurs, denying us any real professional status. Thirty years ago it wasn't easy for a woman to impose herself as a modern artist in Germany" - Hannah Höch (Quote retrieved from artnet.com)
Analysis
Little to no analysis or context is provided for Das Schöne Mädchen, which makes this post more enjoyable for me since I get to contribute my own ideas. Höch presents femininity in the images of the hair, the eyes, and the body of the seated woman. However, industrial images are also present such as the tire, the nuts and bolts, wrench, BMW logos, and lightbulb. It appears that the worlds of traditional masculinity and femininity are blending, though more masculine images are present. Is Höch proposing that this "beautiful woman" is somehow a version of Germany's "new woman" through her association with industrialization? Since Höch personally defied the misogyny and sexism within the art world while also critiquing German society's idea of "the new woman," I posit that she titles this piece ironically. I propose this in the context of more women going to work in traditionally male-oriented jobs in industry during the war. Höch labels this woman "beautiful" in the title because the woman has brought about industry for the country, not because of her worth as a person. She is "beautiful" in the country's eyes, in their attempts to create this "new woman" while, socially, discriminatory ideas of women still persisted. The seated woman's head is replaced with a lightbulb, making her merely a body in a swarm of industrial supplies. With no face, there is nothing recognizable or distinguishable about this woman. In fact, no fully, recognized woman is in the piece. There are merely pieces of what appears to be a woman or feminine features. For these reasons, I see Höch as poking fun at the idea of a "beautiful woman." I feel that through the symbols of industry and feminine features, she satirizes the ideal that all sexism supposedly disappears with this creation of "the new woman."
Reader Questions: What kind of message do you think Höch is trying to convey in this piece? Does the use of collage make the message more difficult to understand?
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