Lesson 7

Hannah Höch: Cut, Paste, Subvert

The Dada pioneer who built art with scissors and glue

✂️

→CUT

Real photos, cut and clashed.
Juxtaposition with a message.Today: meet Höch, note 5 facts, start your research page + collage.

Learning Objective:

Know who Hannah Höch was and what photomontage is
React to her work using sentence stems
Begin a Höch research page AND a collage "in the style of" her

Teacher Print Tools

Each pack includes the blank feedback sheet for next lesson's review.

Catch-up

Still finishing your Dalí study? Read this 👀

Just for the small group still finishing Dalí: you've got a clear lane today. Everyone else: 30 seconds, then we meet Hannah Höch.

⚡ Your plan today (catch-up pupils only)

During Independent Work, finish Dalí FIRST (10–12 min), then start the Höch research page. Use the orange "Catch-up Path" box on that slide.

🎯 You can still join in fully

Listen during the I Do slides — Höch's photomontage is a brand-new technique, and the retrieval quiz is good practice for everyone.

Teacher / TA note: Hands up now if your Dalí study isn't done — 30-second flag so I can check in during Independent Work.

Retrieval Quiz

Arrival Task — Retrieval Quiz (Do Now)

Instructions: Answer from memory. Q4 leads into today.

1. Last lessons

Which Surrealist artist did we study — the one who painted melting clocks?

Salvador Dalí.

2. Last lessons

Dalí's strange, dream-like paintings belong to which art movement?

Surrealism.

3. Key word

What does juxtaposition mean?

Putting two unrelated things side by side.

4. Lead-in: Höch

If you cut pictures from magazines and glue them into a new picture, what is that called?

A collage / photomontage — today's artist invented it!

1. Last lessons

Name the Surrealist artist we studied (the melting clocks).

Salvador Dalí.

2. Last lessons

What was Dalí trying to show in his dream-like paintings?

His dreams / imagination / the subconscious.

3. Key word

Give one example of juxtaposition from Dalí's work.

E.g. melting clocks in a calm desert; an elephant on thin insect legs.

4. Lead-in: Höch

How could you make a picture using only magazines, scissors and glue — no paint?

Cut out and reassemble printed images — photomontage / collage.

1. Last lessons

Which movement did Dalí belong to, and what did it explore?

Surrealism — dreams and the subconscious.

2. Key word

Why is juxtaposition so important in Surrealist art?

Clashing unrelated images jolt the viewer and make us question reality.

3. Skill recall

In our Dalí annotation we used STATE, DESCRIBE, EXPLAIN. What does EXPLAIN ask you to do?

Say WHY — the meaning, effect or reason behind the artist's choice.

4. Lead-in: Höch

Cut a real face from one photo and a machine from another and combine them — what message might that send?

That identity/society is artificial or "constructed" — exactly Höch's idea.

Starter

Starter — Invent the Stranger ✂️🎭

This face is built from cut-up pieces. There are no wrong answers — invent who they are! Pick your level, then we'll reveal what it really is.

Foundation

Give this face a NAME and one word to describe them.

"This is _____. They look _____."

I Do

I Do: Who Was Hannah Höch?

Key Idea: A German Dada artist who invented photomontage — cutting up printed photos to build bold new images that challenged society.

📝 Aim to capture at least 5 facts for your research page!

Tell your partner the ONE Höch fact you'd put on your research page first — and say why it matters.

Then swap: did you choose the same fact? Listen for "because…"

We Do

We Do: Spot the Clash 🔍

Höch's trick: she jams together bits that don't belong. Tap the parts of this face that clash — there are 4 hiding. Each one teaches a key word.

Tap a part of the face you think clashes

Clashes found: 0/4

When you find one, say WHY it clashes: "These two parts clash because one is _____ and one is _____." The posh word for this is juxtaposition.

🚀 Stretch: pick your favourite clash — what message could Höch be sending by forcing those two things together?

We Do

We Do: REACT to a Höch Photomontage

Instructions: Look at this photomontage-style face, built from cut-up magazine pieces. Inspired by Höch's collaged portraits.

Photomontage face: mismatched eyes, clashing scale, machine & text fragments

👀 What do you SEE?

🤔 What CLASHES or doesn't fit?

🔍 Which VISUAL ELEMENTS jump out?

💭 What MESSAGE might Höch be sending?

Sentence starters: "I see _____ cut from _____." | "It clashes because _____." | "Höch might be saying _____."

photomontage juxtaposition mass media New Woman Dada

I Do

I Do: Photomontage, Dada & Juxtaposition

Key Idea: Höch didn't paint dreams like Dalí — she cut and glued real photos to attack the real world. Same key word though: juxtaposition.

Step 0 of 5Click to build the comparison one piece at a time

🧠 Dalí (last lessons)

How: Painted by hand
From: His imagination / dreams
Look: Hyper-real dreamscapes
Goal: Show the subconscious

✂️ Höch (today)

How: Cut + glued real photos
From: Magazines, newspapers, adverts
Look: Clashing collaged fragments
Goal: Criticise real society

🔗 The shared word

JUXTAPOSITION drives both. Dalí juxtaposes painted objects; Höch juxtaposes cut-out photos. The clash is the point.

📐 What is PHOTOMONTAGE?

Photomontage = cutting photographs out of printed media (magazines, newspapers, adverts) and gluing them together to make a brand-new image. Höch helped invent it as part of Dada — a wild anti-art movement born from disgust at the First World War.

Three things to mention about a Höch photomontage: What's cut & clashed (juxtaposition) · It's made of mass media · Its social message

Hit all three and you're analysing, not just describing.

Don't write: "It's just a messy collage" or "She painted a weird face"

Write: "Höch juxtaposed cut-up photos from mass media to question how society constructs the image of women."

Höch did NOT paint — that's the key difference from Dalí. Her material (real printed photos) is part of the meaning: she turns the media's own images against it.

In one sentence each: how is Höch DIFFERENT from Dalí? Say it to your partner, then swap and improve each other's sentence.

Top tip: the strongest sentences use the words "cut", "photomontage" and "juxtaposition".

We Do

We Do: Build a Höch Montage 🎨✂️

Practice run before the real scissors. Drag scraps onto the page. Aim for ONE deliberate juxtaposition — two things that clash on purpose. Then name what it says.

Scraps — tap to add

Montage assembled! 🎉

Scraps placed: 0

Show your partner your montage. They guess the MESSAGE; you say if they're right.

Now you've built one on screen — go make a real one with the magazines.

Independent Work

Independent Work — Höch Research + Collage

Two parts today: a Höch research page AND a collage "in the style of" Höch using the magazines. Catch-up pupils (Dalí unfinished) → orange box.

Foundation

Research page: title "Hannah Höch" + 5 facts about Höch + 1 image. Then make a simple collage face from magazine pieces — eyes, mouth, hair from different photos.

"Hannah Höch was a _____ artist who invented _____."

Middle

Research page: 6+ facts in your own words + image. Then a collage "in the style of" Höch with a deliberate juxtaposition (two clashing images). Begin a short annotation (STATE).

Higher

Detailed research page (8+ facts, context, Dalí comparison). An ambitious collage using several deliberate juxtapositions that carry a message (e.g. about identity or media). Full annotation linking your choices to Höch's social critique.

🌉 Catch-up Path (Dalí unfinished)

First 10–12 min: finish Dalí (study, tone, annotation). Then: start the Foundation Höch research — title + 5 facts. Collage can begin if time allows; otherwise next lesson.

📋 Scaffolding

Foundation: copy facts from your highlighted bio; cut bold, simple shapes. Middle: write facts in your OWN words; plan ONE juxtaposition before gluing. Higher: sketch a layout plan; choose images that argue something.

🏆 Success Criteria

Foundation: 5 facts, 1 image, a collage face from cut magazine pieces.

Middle: 6+ own-word facts, collage with a deliberate juxtaposition, STATE started.

Higher: detailed research, message-driven collage, full annotation linked to social critique.

Exit Ticket

Instructions: Answer independently. No notes.

1) What nationality was Hannah Höch?

German.

2) What is photomontage?

Cutting up photos and gluing them together to make a new image.

3) What does juxtaposition mean?

Placing two unrelated things side by side for contrast.

Knowledge Organiser (L7): Hannah Höch

Fact	Detail
Born	1 November 1889, Gotha, Germany
Nationality	German
Movement	Berlin Dada (the only woman in the group)
Invented	Photomontage — cutting & reassembling printed photos
Day job	Ullstein publishing house — magazine pattern designer
Famous work	"Cut with the Kitchen Knife…" (1919)
Themes	Politics, gender, beauty, the "New Woman" of 1920s Germany
Under the Nazis	Work branded "degenerate"; made art quietly in private
Died	1978, Berlin, aged 88

	Dalí (last lessons)	Höch (today)
How	Painted by hand	Cut & glued real photos
Source	Imagination / dreams	Magazines, newspapers, adverts
Goal	Show the subconscious	Criticise real society
Shared word	JUXTAPOSITION — the clash carries the meaning

Word	Meaning
Photomontage	Cutting & reassembling photos into a new image
Dada	Anti-art movement born from disgust at WWI
Juxtaposition	Placing two unrelated things side by side
Weimar	1920s Germany's republic — Höch's era
New Woman	1920s ideal of the modern, independent woman

Arrival Task — Retrieval Quiz (Do Now)

Foundation

1) Which Surrealist artist did we study — the one who painted melting clocks?

2) Dalí's dream-like paintings belong to which art movement?

3) What does juxtaposition mean?

4) Cutting pictures from magazines and gluing them into a new picture is called…?

Middle

1) Name the Surrealist artist we studied (the melting clocks).

2) What was Dalí trying to show in his dream-like paintings?

3) Give one example of juxtaposition from Dalí's work.

4) How could you make a picture using only magazines, scissors and glue — no paint?

Higher

1) Which movement did Dalí belong to, and what did it explore?

2) Why is juxtaposition so important in Surrealist art?

3) In our Dalí annotation (STATE, DESCRIBE, EXPLAIN) — what does EXPLAIN ask you to do?

4) Cut a face from one photo + a machine from another — what message might that send?

🌉 Catch-up Bridge — Dalí Finish

Only for pupils still completing Dalí:

Step	Task
1	Finish your gridded Dalí study and add tone
2	Complete the annotation — STATE, DESCRIBE, EXPLAIN
3	Finish the Dalí research page — facts, images, comparison
4	Then start the Foundation Höch task — title + 5 facts

Höch Fact Sheet — note 5 facts for your research page

Hannah Höch (1889–1978) was a German artist and one of the inventors of photomontage. She was born on 1 November 1889 in Gotha, Germany, and studied applied arts and graphic design in Berlin. From 1916 she worked at the Ullstein publishing house, designing embroidery, knitting and crochet patterns for women's magazines — surrounding her with printed photographs and mass-media imagery.

She became the only woman in the Berlin Dada group, a radical anti-art movement that grew out of disgust at the First World War. Höch is famous for cutting up photographs from newspapers, magazines and adverts and reassembling them into strange new images — a technique called photomontage. Her most famous work, "Cut with the Kitchen Knife…" (1919), is a chaotic collage attacking German politics and society.

Much of her work explored the role of women, beauty standards and the idea of the "New Woman" in 1920s Germany. The Nazis branded her work "degenerate" and she lived quietly through the Second World War, continuing to make art in private. She died in Berlin in 1978, aged 88 — now remembered as a pioneer of collage.

📝 Highlight at least 5 facts. Then list them here:

We Do: REACT to Höch

What do you SEE?

What CLASHES or doesn't fit?

Which VISUAL ELEMENTS jump out?

What MESSAGE might Höch be sending?

Scaffolding – Foundation

"Hannah Höch was a _____ artist born in _____."

"She is famous for inventing _____."

"In my collage I cut out _____ and _____."

Scaffolding – Middle

"Höch's way of working is different to Dalí because she _____ instead of _____."

"Photomontage means _____."

"In my collage, the juxtaposition between _____ and _____ shows _____."

Scaffolding – Higher

Key terms: photomontage, Dada, juxtaposition, mass media, Weimar, "New Woman", degenerate art, collage, social critique

Aim: link your collage choices to a message about society / identity / media.

Independent – Foundation

☐ Title "Hannah Höch" ☐ 5 facts ☐ 1 image ☐ Collage face from cut magazine pieces (eyes, mouth, hair from different photos)

Independent – Middle

☐ Title ☐ 6+ own-word facts ☐ image ☐ Collage "in the style of" Höch with a deliberate juxtaposition ☐ STATE started in annotation

Independent – Higher

☐ Detailed research (8+ facts, context, Dalí comparison) ☐ Message-driven collage with several juxtapositions ☐ Full annotation linked to Höch's social critique

Exit Ticket – Foundation

1) What nationality was Hannah Höch?

2) What is photomontage?

3) What does juxtaposition mean?

Exit Ticket – Middle

1) How is Höch's way of working different from Dalí's?

2) What was the "New Woman", and why did Höch explore it?

3) What was Dada?

Exit Ticket – Higher

1) Why is juxtaposition central to BOTH Dalí and Höch?

2) Why might cut-up real photos critique society more directly than a painting?

3) Dada vs Surrealism — how do they relate?

Artist Research & Collage — Feedback Sheet

For next lesson's review. Keep with your sketchbook.

Pupil name:	Date:
Artist: Hannah Höch	Tier: F / M / H

Research page checklist	Collage checklist
☐ Title ☐ Facts (in own words) ☐ Image(s) ☐ Annotation started	☐ Uses cut magazine images ☐ Deliberate juxtaposition ☐ "In the style of" Höch

✅ What Went Well (WWW):

🔧 Even Better If (EBI):

✍️ Pupil response — "My next step is…"

Höch Research + Collage Complete!

Pens down — quick partner check!

Hannah Höch: Cut, Paste, Subvert

Teacher Print Tools

Still finishing your Dalí study? Read this 👀

If your Dalí study + annotation isn't quite finished…

⚡ Your plan today (catch-up pupils only)

🎯 You can still join in fully

Arrival Task — Retrieval Quiz (Do Now)

1. Last lessons

2. Last lessons

3. Key word

4. Lead-in: Höch

1. Last lessons

2. Last lessons

3. Key word

4. Lead-in: Höch

1. Last lessons

2. Key word

3. Skill recall

4. Lead-in: Höch

Starter — Invent the Stranger ✂️🎭

Foundation

Middle

Higher

I Do: Who Was Hannah Höch?

We Do: Spot the Clash 🔍

We Do: REACT to a Höch Photomontage

I Do: Photomontage, Dada & Juxtaposition

🧠 Dalí (last lessons)

✂️ Höch (today)

🔗 The shared word

📐 What is PHOTOMONTAGE?

We Do: Build a Höch Montage 🎨✂️

Independent Work — Höch Research + Collage

Foundation

Middle

Higher

🌉 Catch-up Path (Dalí unfinished)

📋 Scaffolding

🏆 Success Criteria

Exit Ticket

Knowledge Organiser (L7): Hannah Höch

Arrival Task — Retrieval Quiz (Do Now)

Foundation

Middle

Higher

🌉 Catch-up Bridge — Dalí Finish

Höch Fact Sheet — note 5 facts for your research page

We Do: REACT to Höch

Scaffolding – Foundation

Scaffolding – Middle

Scaffolding – Higher

Independent – Foundation

Independent – Middle

Independent – Higher

Exit Ticket – Foundation

Exit Ticket – Middle

Exit Ticket – Higher

Artist Research & Collage — Feedback Sheet