Kurt Schwitters

Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948, Germany) was among the leading figures of the German Dada art movement. Schwitters was a typographer, artist and poet, and is seen by many artists as the father of post-modernism in art. After joining the Dada artists in Berlin in 1919, Schwitters coined the term ‘Merz’ for describing his creative output which included collage, assemblage, performance and poetry. His working method involved collecting various items and found materials and reassembling them as works of art. In 1923 Schwitters began forming his first Merzbua, a structure that “grew” in his Hanover studio, which was fabricated from bit of furniture and other items. In 1937 the Nazi authorities declared his work “degenerate art,” and he was forced to escape Germany, arriving first in Norway and then in the United Kingdom, where he continued working on his Merz project. Schwitters works are frequently shown in retrospective exhibitions and are in leading international modern art collections.

Further information: Schwitters Foundation

Kurt Schwitters, Untitled (Eifriges Studium), 1941 – 1942, paper collage on board

The collection