Fata Morgana is a photomontage created by Hannah Höch in 1957. Its title refers to a specific form of optical illusion: a superior mirage in which atmospheric conditions cause images to appear as floating or inverted at the horizon. The mirage phenomenon known as a fata morgana occurs when layers of warm and cool air bend light in ways that distort distant objects, making them appear elevated, mirrored, or displaced.

As a photomontage, Fata Morgana is constructed from cut and assembled photographic reproductions. In the 1950s, Höch increasingly worked with color imagery, often using printed magazines and other contemporary sources. Britannica confirms that her postwar practice moved toward more abstract compositions and the use of color fragments. The palette in Fata Morgana reflects this shift, with tonal contrasts ranging from ochre grounds to pinks and blues.

The composition demonstrates Höch’s precise control of her medium. Fragments are not simply layered but carefully positioned so that edges and forms generate a sense of rhythm and tension across the small rectangular surface. Observers have noted that the fragments can evoke natural or geological associations, but these remain open to interpretation rather than definitive representation.

Although Fata Morgana is not overtly satirical or political in the manner of Höch’s Dada works from the 1910s and 1920s, it continues her exploration of transformation, fragmentation, and perception. Art historians describe her postwar works as more meditative, often shifting the focus from direct social critique to poetic and abstract visual construction. In this sense, the title Fata Morgana may be seen as reinforcing themes of illusion and instability, though such interpretations belong to critical readings of the work rather than documented statements by the artist.

By the time she produced Fata Morgana, Höch was nearly seventy years old, yet the work reflects her ongoing experimentation with collage. Its layered fragments and evocative title align with recurring concerns in her practice: the instability of vision, the recombination of images, and the transformation of familiar materials into new and ambiguous forms.

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