Sarah Tolmie

Navigating Dada: Women and Their Art in a Male Dominated Culture

Dada was originally formed in Zurich, Switzerland in 1916, and was rapidly
adopted by writers and artists around the world. The largest centers for Dada
included: Zurich, Berlin, Paris, and New York. Dada can be considered less a style
and more a practicewith a variety of strategiesof undermining expectations
and shocking the viewer into questioning blindly accepted, fundamentally
repressive conventions and structures (Blythe, 3). It is also important to note that
Dada was a period in which both men and women worked, although it was heavily
male dominated.
The women of Dada suffered from a lack of recognition in the writings of
Dada and within the greater art historical picture. Any records of the women artists
in Dada are often written by their male counterparts as well as by critics, and one
often reads about an individual as the wife of, the girlfriend of, the lover of, the
mistress of or the sister of a better-known protagonist (Hemus, 3). Prominent
women of Dada, such as Suzanne Duchamp, Sophie Taeuber, Hannah Hoch and
Beatrice Wood, although tied to better known protagonist[s], were able to
navigate the male dominated scene to create artwork reflective of their own styles
and ideas. These women also had the support of their male counterparts and were
able to further their success in Dada through the influences and guidance of the
significant men in their lives. This paper will investigate the relationships between
the women artists and the men they worked with, exploring how these relationships
influenced the art of both the women and men. The central artists are Suzanne
Duchamp and her brother Marcel Duchamp, and husband Jean Crotti, Beatrice Wood

and her teacher Marcel Duchamp and her lover Henri-Pierre Roch, Hannah Hch
and her lover Raoul Hausmann, and Sophie Taeuber and her husband Jean Arp
Suzanne Duchamp was active in Paris Dada. Duchamp came from a family of
artists including another Dadaist, Marcel Duchamp, from whom she took a great
deal of inspiration and guidance. Suzanne is considered one of the first woman
artists in Paris Dada. As Marcel was working in New York, Suzanne corresponded
with him and took inspiration from his writing and artwork. Her piece, Un et une
menaces (A Menaced Male and Female), 1916. Menaced Male and Female features
an industrial and geometric mixed media image using machinery to represent male
and female forms. Suzannes use of machinery, both in drawing and actual machine
parts, is reminiscent of work Marcel had been creating for some time. It is
specifically reminiscent of Marcels Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2), 1912 in
that it references the movement of machinery in a modern context, while
referencing the human form. Suzanne may have been steered toward the machinelike imagery after seeing Nude Descending a Staircase and other works that Marcel
had been creating, including his readymades. Menaced Male and Female is noted
as the first Dada work in Europe in 1916, and only shared similarities with artists
who were working in New York with Marcel (Camfield, 82). Those similarities include
the use of industrial components and mixed media compositions. Marcel would
often write to Suzanne and in his letters would ask about her art, critique her work,
and offer her support and guidance. In a letter from 1917 he wrote, Tell me what
you are making and if its not too difficult to send. Perhaps, I could have a show of
your work in the month of October or Novembernexthere (Naumann, 9). Marcel
was not Suzannes only support; New York Dadaist Jean Crotti would become a
major influence in Suzannes life. Crotti joined Marcel Duchamp during the

beginnings of New York Dada and witnessed the birth of the readymade (Naumann,
6). Both Suzanne and Crottis artwork transformed to reflect the work of Marcel by
incorporating more mechanical and readymade objects. When Crotti moved to Paris
in 1916 his relationship with Suzanne began as he shared news on Marcels success
in New York. Eventually they married in August 1918 (Camfield, 86). Paris Dada was
on the rise in the late 1910s with the work of Picabia, Tristan Tzara, and Andr
Breton. Dada began to peak in 1920 with the exhibition at the Salon des
Independants where Suzanne, Crotti, Picabia, and Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes
showed works, many of which were influenced by the work Marcel was creating in
New York. The style and imagery of the work in this exhibition set the tone for Dada
in Paris (Camfield, 91-92). Picabia became the face of Paris Dada and after this
exhibition Suzanne and Crotti began to move away from the Dada group, and
played a more passive role. Camfield notes that the couple had, reservations about
the rowdier nature of Dada and were two gentler, less intellectual souls among
the other artists (pg. 92). The couple continued making art and the similarities
between their works became apparent. In Suzannes ARieTe doubli de la chapelle
tourdie (Arietta about the Forgetfulness of the Absent-Minded Chapel), 1920, there
is evidence of Crottis influence on her work. The piece incorporates text. The text is
intended to be confusing and difficult to translate as it is considered to be a private
symbolismto express something about Crotti by his devoted wife and not directly
a message to the viewer (Camfield 1983, pg. 21). The work also features a portrait
of Crotti made of wood, paint and a glass eye (Camfield, 92). The glass eye fixed to
the portrait of Crotti could be a reference to Crottis Le Clown, 1916 where he also
used glass eyes [see Figure 1]. According to Camfield (1983), glass eyes and twodimensional circular forms were established as the most significant forms in Crottis

work, and by including this object, Suzanne references her admiration for Crotti
both as her husband and as an artistic influence (pg. 14). ARieTe doubli de la
chapelle tourdie was featured alongside Crottis work in an exhibition at the
Galerie Montaigne; the two works are considered the couples largest contributions
to Paris Dada (Camfield, 94). Between 1921 and 1922, Crotti began to shift his ideas
to a new style which he called Tabu. He and Suzanne distanced themselves further
from the Dada movement and simultaneously Dada falls apart in Paris as Picabia
decides to abandon the group (Camfield 1983, pg. 24). Suzannes style shifted
dramatically and subsequently distanced her even farther from Dada. Suzanne
Duchamp may not have been part of the inner circle of Paris Dada, but her artwork
as the only female artist in Paris Dada was influential to the movement. The
guidance and influences of Marcel Duchamp and Jean Crotti helped Suzanne to
create work that defined the Dada movement in Paris and also define herself as an
artist.
Beatrice Wood was a member of New York Dada, and also worked closely with
Marcel Duchamp during her time in Dada. She is better known for her later work in
ceramics, and is often ignored or forgotten in the records of New York Dada. Wood
was raised by her mother, Carrara Wood, a status-conscious, late-Victorian lady to
be a perfect specimen of upper-middleclass femininity (Franklin, 107-108). Wood
was defiant of her mothers wishes from a young age and was intrigued by the ideas
of desire and love. She secretly read books, especially writings by Sigmund Freud,
which further piqued her interest in desire, love, and her own sexuality. Wood
wished to pursue art to escape her mothers bourgeois world and explore these
interests (Franklin, 108). Carrara Wood attempted to subdue her daughters raging
bohemian spirit by satiating it and between 1911 and 1914 Woods mother sent

her to France to study art and acting (Franklin, 108). Wood returned to New York in
1916 and began to mingle with artists and writers and soon came of age sexually
and artistically (Franklin, 108). In that same year she met Marcel Duchamp, who
would become one of the most influential men in her early career. Wood met
Duchamp while visiting a friend in the hospital and attempted to interject in their
conversation about Modern Art. She interrupted their conversation and stated,
Anybody can do Modern Art, just lines and dots, to which Duchamp replies, Go
home and try (Franklin, 109). Just as Wood defied her mother, she created Mariage
Dune Amie (Marriage of a Female Friend), 1916 to defy Duchamp. Marriage of a
Female Friend took Duchamp by surprise and he decided to publish it in the avantgarde magazine, Rogue (Franklin, 109). This work defined the beginning of
Duchamps role as teacher and critic in Woods career. From this point on Duchamp
offered Wood his studio space to continue creating work, as he was aware that her
mother disapproved of her becoming an artist. Franklin relates, Like a
conscientious art teacher, Duchamp scrutinized Woods new work at the end of each
visit, indicating the pieces he liked and disliked (pg. 11). His role as teacher
allowed Wood to grow quickly as an artist, and in 1917 he entered her work into her
first show through the Society of Independent Artists. The piece Duchamp chose for
her to enter, Un peut deau dans du savon (A Little Water in Some Soap), 1917, was
clearly influenced by his ideas and criticism [see Figure 2]. The work is of a headless
nude female torso, drawn roughly in colored pencil and graphite. Duchamps hand is
present in the addition of a shell-shaped piece of soap which covers the figures
pubic area. The inclusion of the soap, instead of just a drawn image, pays homage
to Duchamps readymade work through the use of a manufactured object. It
functioned as a combination of humor and sexual explicitness (Franklin, 112). The

work also referenced the hallowed institution of the female nude in Western art by
drawing attention specifically to the sexual nature of the woman- the breasts and
pubic area- as a way to acknowledge the over-sexualization of the female form, and
Woods own sexuality (Franklin, 114). Her piece received overwhelming attention,
both positive and negative. Critics rejected this work and saw it as a distasteful
joke, whereas other viewers were often laughing at its drollery (Franklin, 114). Un
peut deau dans du savon is also noted as a direct descendant of Sandro
Botticellis Birth of Venus (1485), one of the most sanctified nudes in the canon of
Western art. (Franklin, 115) Woods use of the idealized female form and shellshaped soap create a rather direct reference to Birth of Venus, and the mythology of
Venus who is the Roman Goddess of love, fertility and beauty. The mythology of
Venus had a direct correlation to Woods struggle to break free from both the
suffocating stronghold of her mother and the bourgeois moral etiquette she
espoused (Franklin, 115). Woods fascination with love, desire, and her sexuality
are also clearly part of this work as she may have also related to the uninhibited
sexuality of Venus. Woods artwork continued to be influenced by Duchamp, but in
1917 her first lover, Henri-Pierre Roch, came into her life. Their relationship lasted
only a few months, but he left a lasting impression on her life and her artwork
(Franklin, 117). In her work, Journe, 1917, watercolor and ink on colored paper,
Wood further considered her thoughts on motherhood and of her own body and
sexuality, in addition to dealing with the heartbreak from the end of her and
Rochs relationship (Franklin, 120). The end of her and Rochs relationship
hardened her to the realities of the male sex, [and] it also brought her a clearer
understanding of what her intended societal role was as a woman (Franklin, 120).
Wood was still intrigued by the writings of Freud and struggled to answer Freuds

question, what does a woman want?, to which Wood answers: motherhood

(Franklin, 120). During and after World War I natalist campaigns promoted
motherhood as every able-bodied womans duty and destiny (Franklin, 20). Wood
was caught up in this postwar maternal call to arms, considering the words of
Freud, and suffering from her failed relationship with Roch; all of which influenced
Journe (Franklin, 120). Journe illustrates a woman in four different moments in her
pregnancy and although are not true likenesses of Wood, she undoubtedly
conceived of them as self-portraits (Franklin, 122). The drawings range from dark
and violent to humorous, evident through both the imagery and text. The figure in
the top left corner represents Woods heartache; it depicts a woman who has
stabbed herself with a dagger in an attempted suicide along with text which reads,
le coeur bless par son grand amour (her heart is wounded by her great love)
(see Figure 3) (Franklin, 122). Woods combination of pregnancy and suicide may
reflect her regrets in not becoming pregnant by Roch in order to keep him in her
life. Franklin notes, Pregnancy would have been an extremely effective means
deployed by Wood to salvage her relationship [with Roch] by burdening him with
the responsibility of fatherhood (pg. 122-23). Wood was distraught, yet inspired, by
her lost love. Her artwork continued to explore themes of motherhood and
pregnancy, in addition to themes of gender and transvestism, all of which were
heavily influenced by Roch, Duchamp and Freud.
Hannah Hch, the only woman artist of Berlin Dada, is the most well
researched woman in Dada. Her collected materials includes thousands of books,
letters, catalogues, posters, manifestos, periodicals, diaries, poems, and artworks
(Hemus, 91). Hch became involved with Raoul Hausmann, who initially provided
her access to Dada; as Hch recalls, through my close relationship with

Hausmann, it lasted almost seven years, I was entwined with Dada from the start.
(Hemus, 91). As the only female member of Berlin Dada, Hch become known as
Dadas good girl which had come to define her position within the movement
(Lancher (1997), 129). Hch detested this role as it labeled her as a subordinate
member of Dada, and not as an equal within the group. Boswell captures Hchs
inequality within the group during the 1920 First International Dada Fair:
[It] is clear that Hchs masculine colleagues of the Berlin Dada movement
were little inclined to include her in their midst. Heartfield and Grosz are said to
have vehemently opposed her

inclusion in the celebrated First International Dada

Fair of 1920 and yielded only when

Hausmann, the indispensable broadsword of

Dada, threatened to boycott the event (pg. 7)

With Hausmanns support Hch was able to participate in the Dada Fair, and
displayed one of her most well-known photomontages, Cut with the Kitchen Knife
through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany (Schnitt mit dem
Kchenmesser durch die letzte Weimarer Bierbauchkulturepoche Deutschlands),
1919-1920. Hchs work in photomontage was influenced by a vacation she took
with Hausmann where the couple was inspired by the cut-and-paste quality of
images soldiers would send home to their families. Hch's artwork was changed by
this experience, and photomontage became the preferred medium for her shrewd
social and political critiques of the 1920s (National Gallery of Art). In her work Cut
with the Kitchen Knife Hch is using the inspiration from her and Hausmanns
vacation in addition to politically driven imagery. Hausmann was also influenced by
the soldiers images and created many photomontages, including Elasticum, 1920.
His work is also politically driven and it is evident that Hch and Hausmann worked
in a similar style, as well as several other Dada artists in Berlin.

Sophie Taeuber was part of the original Dada in Zurich where she was a
dancer at Cabaret Voltaire, as well as a visual artist (Lancher, 10). Taeuber met Jean
(Hans) Arp, a fellow Dada artist, in Zurich in 1915 and married in 1922. The couple
significantly influenced each other in art and in life. Taeuber was a dancer, but also
produced a large body of visual art that included paintings, sculptures, puppetry,
collage, embroidery, and tapestry (Hubert, 527). Taeuber and Arp worked both
independently and collaboratively, and collaborated specifically in embroidery,
tapestry and collage. Embroidery and tapestry is often seen as a feminine craft or
domestic activity, but were practiced as much by Arp as by Taeuber (Hubert, 527).
Taeuber specialized in textiles at the schools of applied arts in Saint Gallen and
Hamburg and her background in textiles is present in a large quantity of her
artwork (Lancher, 9). Her skills in textiles are clearly evident in her fiber art and
textiles, but also in the geometric quality of her work. Arp also worked in textiles,
even before he met Taeuber, and used it as a means of challenging the Western
tradition of painting (Obler, 4). Arps artwork became heavily influenced by
Taeubers, especially from 1916-1918 when they abjured working in oil and began
working in paper, cloth, [and] embroidery (Lancher, 10). Arp said about Taeubers
art during their time away from oils, The pictures that she was doing at that time
exercised a decisive influence on my work [her] work became a symbol for me of
divine creation (Lancher, 10). Also beginning during the period without oils,
Taeuber and Arp experimented with the possibilities of dual authorship often
making it unclear which artist actually created the work (Obler, 1). In writings from
the 1950s Arp acknowledged her influence on him especially in their verticalhorizontal compositions (Obler, 3). The vertical-horizontal compositions began
during this period and consisted of rectangles or squares [that] build upon each

other and occupy the entire space without creating any intrusions and were
continued when the couple returned to a more expansive use of media (Hubert,
528).

Evidence of her influence on him and possibly an instance of collaboration

between the couple can be seen in this specific pair of vertical-horizontal

compositions: Taeubers Untitled (Vertical-Horizontal Composition), 1916, wool
needlepoint, and Arps Composition horizontale-verticale no. 20, 1917, embroidery
(Figure 3). Both compositions exemplify Tauebers work in textiles as they were
made using fibers and have a strong geometric quality. Untitled (Vertical-Horizontal
Composition) was created first chronologically and clearly influenced Arps
Composition horizontale-verticale no. 20, which was created one year later. Arp
used low intensity colors and many of the same hues as Taeuber, and mimicked her
geometric composition of squares and rectangles. It appears as if these works were
created by the same artist and could appear as a series. There are countless
examples of embroideries, tapestries and collage in which it is impossible to
recognize who was the true creator. As Obler notes, no documentation from the
period exists and, there are numerous examples of Arp titling work at a later date
(pg. 1). The influences the artist couple had on one another transcends their
collaborative fiber arts. Taeuber used Arp as an inspiration in her series of DadaKpfe (Dada Heads) from 1918-1920. Portrait of Jean Arp, 1918-19, turned, painted
wood, and Portrait of Jean Arp, 1918, turned, painted wood, are sculptures or Dada
objects which consist of the pear shape of a hat stand as its functional quality,
while the design and painted elements are highly stylized and still evoke the
presence of Jean Arp (Lancher, 11). Arp was a major artist in Zurich Dada and while
Taeuber was a prominent figure in the spheres of dance and puppetry, her
connection Arp escalated her Dada Heads to a higher stature making them one of

her most famous works (Hubert, 535). Taeuber and Arp were lifelong partners and
created work together until Taeubers death in 1943 (Lancher, 18). Their lifelong
careers, both in collaboration and independently, show the strong influences the
two had on each other. Taeubers role as a visual artist in Dada was clearly elevated
through her work with Arp, while Arps work was expanded through Taeubers
knowledge and expertise in multiple mediums.
In investigating Suzanne Duchamp, Beatrice Wood, Hannah Hch, and Sophie
Taeuber it is clear that not only the men of Dada ruled. These women artists were
able to navigate and create in the movement with the guidance and support of their
male counterparts. Suzanne was able to create her Dadaist paintings and drawings
through the support of her brother Marcel, who taught and critiqued her, and her
husband Jean Crotti, who influenced her imagery and ideologies. Wood was also
heavily influenced by Marcel Duchamp and through his teaching was able to hold
her own in New Yorks Dada scene while investigating her sexual identity and the
social expectations of gender and sexuality. Hannah Hch, through the support of
Raoul Hausmann, navigated as the only woman artist in Berlin Dada and became
the most well studied and recognized woman from the entire Dada movement.
Finally, Sophie Taeuber excelled in Zurich Dada through her marriage to Jean Arp
who worked very closely with her through direct collaboration and as an inspiration.
The artwork produced by the woman of Dada clearly expresses their attitudes and
roles in society and in the Dada group. It is significant that women were creating art
alongside men in the same movement and showed their works in the same
exhibitions. Although these women artists may not have gotten the same attention
and acclaim during the Dada period, it is clear that their work was of equal value.

Image 1: Left: Jean Crotti, Le Clown (The Clown), 1916. Right: Suzanne Duchamp,
ARieTe doubli de la chapelle tourdie (Arietta about the Forgetfulness of the Absent-Minded
Chapel), 1920. A comparison of Crotti and Duchamp which illustrates the apparent
influences Crotti had on Duchamps work (note the color schemes geometric forms, and
glass eyes).

Figure 2: Beatrice Wood, Un peut deau dans du savon (A Little Water in Some
Soap), 1917. (Replica, original destroyed in 1938)

Figure 3: Beatrice Wood, Journe, 1917, watercolor and ink on colored paper

Figure 4: Left: Jean (Hans) Arp, Composition horizontale-verticale no. 20, 1917, embroidery.
Right: Sophie Taeuber, Untitled (Vertical-Horizontal Composition), 1916, wool needlepoint.

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