Kurt Schwitters



Kurt Schwitters is most commonly associated with the Dada movement, but also was an integral participant in the Constructivist and Surrealist movements. He worked in many mediums including painting, poetry, installation art, sculpture, graphic design and typography. His influence in the art world and the popularity of his collage style of artwork were far reaching both in Europe and the US. After World War I society in Germany began to become somewhat more stable and Schwitters became less active in the Constructivist and Surrealist movements and joined the German Dada group. During this time he published a periodical titled Merz, which was perhaps his most influential graphic design work.

Merz was a term that Schwitters often used in his work, describing it as ""In the war, things were in terrible turmoil. What I had learned at the academy was of no use to me and the useful new ideas were still unready.... Everything had broken down and new things had to be made out of the fragments; and this is Merz. It was like a revolution within me, not as it was, but as it should have been.". The periodical featured a new topic for each issue including, artist features, children stories and poetry. Collaborators included El Lissitzky, van Doesburg and Jan Tschichold.