Difference Between a Montage & a Collage

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The techniques of montage and collage are closely linked with both requiring the use of different media working across different artistic techniques, including literature, film, sound recording and photography.

Definition

A collage is a composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface; a montage is a single composition created by juxtaposing a series of pieces of paper, photos or other media to create an artistic image.

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Technique

The term collage can refer to both the technique and the resulting piece of art that is produced by combining different media. A montage is created using a variety of techniques across different media and can include three-dimensional objects.

Formal

According to Britain's Tate Gallery, the montage is more formal than a collage and is used to create either a complete piece of art or part of a larger work of art.

Photomontage

The photomontage was first used by Dadaists to express political dissent in 1915; it's essentially a collage of photographs used to express an idea.

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Film Montage

During the 1920s, the montage was adopted by Soviet filmmakers who used the idea to express different perspectives of a movie scene by cutting between different shots. The montage is often seen as a more politically motivated artwork than the collage.

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