assemblage

collage

collage (kəläzhˈ, kō–) [Fr.,=pasting], technique in art consisting of cutting and pasting natural or manufactured materials to a painted or unpainted surface—hence, a work of art in this medium. The art of collage was initiated in 1912 when Picasso pasted a section of commercially printed oilcloth to his cubist painting, Still Life with Chair Caning (Mus. of Modern Art, New York City). Collage elements appear in works by Gris, Braque, Malevich, Dove, and the futurist artists. A basic means of Dada and surrealist art, it was used by Arp, Schwitters, and Ernst. Collage is related to the newer art of assemblage, in which the traditional painted canvas has been abandoned in favor of the assembling of bits of material, which are sometimes additionally painted or carved.

Bibliography

See studies by H. Janis and R. Blesh (rev. ed. 1967), H. Wescher (1968, tr. 1971), N. Laliberté (1972), G. F. Brommer (1978), B. French (1978), and John and Joan Digby (1987).

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assemblage

[ə′sem·blij]

(archeology)

All related cultural traits and artifacts associated with one archeological manifestation.

(ecology)

A group of organisms sharing a common habitat by chance.

(geology)

A group of fossils that, appearing together, characterize a particular stratum.

A group of minerals that compose a rock.

(ordnance)

A collection of items designed to accomplish one general function and identified and issued as a single item.

(paleontology)

A group of fossils occurring together at one stratigraphic level.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

assemblage

Art a three-dimensional work of art that combines various objects into an integrated whole

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005