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Dimensions: measurements note 2¼ by 3 3/8 in. (5.7 by 8.6 cm.) (irregular) on a sheet 4½ by 5¾ in. (11.4 by 14.6 cm.)
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Provenance: Estate of Tristan TzaraBern, Kornfeld & Klipstein, Dokumentations-Bibliothek III: Teile der Bibliothek und Sammlung Tristan Tzara, 12 June 1968Galleria Schwarz, MilanPrivate CollectionAcquired by the Quillan Company from the above, 1989
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Literature: This print:Jill Quasha, The Quillan Collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Photographs (New York, 1991), pl. 3 Hans Richter, Dada: Art and Anti-Art (DuMont Schauberg, 1964), pl. 64Floris M. Neussüs, Thomas Barrow, and Charles Hagen, Experimental Vision: The Evolution of the Photogram Since 1919 (Denver Art Museum, 1994, in conjunction with the exhibition), p. 16Kunsthaus Zürich, Christian Schad (1894-1982) (Zürich, 1997, in conjunction with the exhibition), p. 72, no. 130Nikolaus Schad and Anna Auer, Schadographien: die Kraft des Lichts (Passau, 1999), p. 39
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Notes: Although cameraless photography had been used since the birth of the medium, it was largely abandoned until the early twentieth century, when it was re-invigorated by such figures as Christian Schad, László Moholy-Nagy, and Man Ray. This renewed interest is most often attributed to Man Ray in 1922, but the artist Christian Schad had been using the photogram process for his Dada-inspired work since 1919. Schad was known primarily as a painter and proponent of Neue Sachlichkeit prior to his brief involvement in Zurich Dada in the late 1910s. In true Dada fashion he took the photogram out of the realm of traditional art subjects by placing such detritus as scraps of paper and fabric onto light-sensitive paper in order to create his so-called Schadographs. The name Schadograph was coined by Dada leader Tristan Tzara, as a play on both the artist's name and 'the shadowlike character of the pictures' (Experimental Vision, p. 9). The unique object offered here was originally in the collection of Tristan Tzara, a founding member of Dada in Zurich. Tzara, a poet, wrote the Dada Manifesto in 1918, thus becoming Dada's greatest propagandist. He was largely responsible for bringing Dada to an international audience, most notably in Paris, where, through his connections to André Breton, Paris Dada was formed. When Schad left Switzerland for Germany in 1920, his Schadographs were in the possession of his friend Walter Serner, who, excited about Schad's new work, forwarded them on to Tzara. According to Dada authority Leah Dickerman, 'Tristan Tzara later carried a group of these tiny photographic compositions to Paris, whereupon Man Ray began to experiment with the technique, though the latter credited a darkroom accident for the new development' (Dada, p. 2). The print offered here, Renseignements, meaning 'information,' was reproduced by fellow Dadaist Hans Richter in his seminal 1964 study, Dada: Art and Anti-Art. An early and important history of the movement, the book included many first-hand accounts of Richter's experiences in Dada. Since its acquisition by the Quillan Collection, the present print has been included in numerous exhibitions devoted to the work of Christian Schad and the history of the photogram. It is believed that Schad produced only thirty Schadographs during the brief period he was affiliated with Zurich Dada, Renseignements among them.
