Lithograph with watercolor - dimensions not available
As the Dada Movement nears the end of its flourishing before moving forward into new forms, it is represented by Picabia's poster for a Year's Eve event which includes an routine that furthers the interplay between staged and filmed reality. Called Cinésketch, it was a ballet that features intertitles announced loudly through a megaphone; the lights are switched on and off with the action in imitation of cinematic scenes. Duchamp and a young woman appear briefly at one point as Adam and Eve, modeled after Lucas Cranach. The narrator cries out as the stage goes dark: "The policeman, who doesn't understand, wants to arrest everybody."
Dada art did not occur in a vacuum. It was part of the art community, the social fabric of the time, and was inseparable from current events. It was not sentimental nor did it copy. It was educated, experiential, fearless and sardonic, loud and filled with energy and a strong desire for using an ever-increasing range of expression, means, and methods.
I hope this slide show gives you a good view of this very exciting as well as troubled time, when artists came together to express outrage and discontent as well as vitality, warmth and appreciation of life. What has changed in 90 years?