Raoul Hausmann

Born in Vienna to an artist father, Hausmann took on painting in Berlin and was first influenced by German Expressionism and collaborated with the magazine Der Sturm and later with Die Aktion. In 1917 Hülsenbeck introduced him to the Dadaist movement and Hausmann became familiar with the contemporary literature such as the Cabaret Voltaire. The following year marked the beginning of a series of Dada soiré and the foundation of the Club Dada, with Hülsenbeck and others. He experimented the combination of sound and visual arts, observing the Optophon and analysing the correspondence of sound and light waves. During these years he also worked on his novel Hyle and developed a new interest for photography. With the rise of Nazism Hausmann left Germany for Ibiza, where he continued his work in both photography and art. He travelled before and during the WWII as a banned artist until he finally settled in France near Limonge, where he remained for the rest of his life until 1971.