Artwork
Kleine Dada Soirée (Small Dada Evening)
Kleine Dada Soirée (Small Dada Evening) is an ink print by Theo van Doesburg. It dates from 1922 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Created in 1922, the lithographic poster titled *Kleine Dada Soirée* announces a Dada gathering.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1922, the lithographic poster titled *Kleine Dada Soirée* announces a Dada gathering. Printed on wove paper in a stark red and black palette, the work combines typographic fragments with crude sketches, producing a deliberately disorderly visual field that mirrors the event’s anti‑art stance.
Subject & Meaning
The poster functions as an advertisement, listing names, dates and slogans such as “Dada Soirée” and “Revolution” in German. Its chaotic arrangement of overlapping letters and small doodles—like a bird or a face—embodies Dada’s rejection of conventional aesthetics and its embrace of chance and disruption.
Technique & Style
Executed as a lithograph, the image relies on the contrast of bold red ink against black type on a light‑beige background. The composition employs jagged, slanted lettering and fragmented shapes, echoing the cut‑and‑paste aesthetic that Dada artists favored to undermine linear readability.
History & Provenance
The work was produced by Theo van Doesburg, a Dutch artist known for his leadership of the De Stijl movement, during a period when he was actively engaging with Dada activities. Though primarily associated with geometric abstraction, van Doesburg’s involvement in this poster reflects his broader avant‑garde collaborations in the early 1920s.
Context
In the early post‑World War I era, Dada gatherings sought to subvert traditional cultural values through performance, poetry and visual provocation. This poster, with its anarchic typography, served as a visual invitation to such an event, aligning the visual language of the medium with the movement’s anti‑establishment ethos.
Artist & collection
Artist
Theo van Doesburg was a Dutch painter, writer, poet, and architect. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl.
