collé

Collé is the French past participle of the verb coller, meaning glued or pasted. As an adjective, collé describes something affixed to a surface, such as a piece of paper collé to a backing or a stamp collé in an album. In French, the related noun for glue is colle, and the verb is coller.

In art history, collé appears in the term papier collé, used to describe a collage technique in which cut or torn papers are pasted to a support to form an image. The act of pasting is central to the method, and the resulting works often treat the glued materials as integral parts of the composition, rather than mere surface decorations. Papier collé is closely associated with early 20th-century Cubism, particularly with Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, who integrated painted areas with glued paper shapes to create unified, flattened forms.

Materials and methods vary, including newspaper, wallpaper, tissue paper, and fabric, fixed with traditional pastes or modern adhesives. The technique emphasizes the materiality of paper and the visual interaction between painted and pasted elements, contributing to the development of collage and mixed-media practices.

Outside of art, collé simply means glued or affixed in everyday French usage. The noun for glue is colle, and the verb is coller.