KURT SCHWITTERS (Hannover 1887–1948 Kendal) Mz 255 Dromedar. 1921. Collage on paper. Signed and dated lower right on the mount: K. Schwitters 21, and titled lower left: Mz 255 / Dromedar. Insribed on the reverse: Mz 255 300. 17.4 × 14.7 cm (collage). Provenance: - Wilhelm Uhde, Paris, 1921 (on view). - Private collection Germany, acquired probably in Dresden in the 1920s. - Swiss private collection, by descent from the above over several generations to the present owner and since its acquisition owned by the same family. Literature: Karin Orchard and Isabel Schulz: Kurt Schwitters, Catalogue Raisonné 1905–1922, Hatje Cantz 2000, vol. 1, p. 403, no. 846. “I called my new manner of working from the principle of using any material MERZ. That is the second syllable of Kommerz [commerce]. It originated from the Merzbild [Merzpicture], a picture in which the word MERZ, cut-out and glued-on from an advertisement for the KOMMERZ- UND PRIVATBANK [Commercial and Private Bank], could be read in between abstract forms. The word MERZ had become a part of the picture by being attuned with the other parts, so it had to stay there. […] So I named all my pictures as a species MERZbilder after the most characteristic one. Later I expanded the title Merz, first to include my poetry, […] and finally to all my relevant activities. Now I call myself MERZ” (Elderfield, 1986, p. 13). In 1919 Germany found itself in a time of upheaval. It was shortly after the First World War, the country was experiencing hyperinflation, revolution and counter-revolution. Inspired by Der Sturm and the simultaneous Dada movement, Schwitters founded his own "one-man" avant-garde in Hanover, which he summarily declared the MERZ revolution. Schwitters started working with collage at that time. It was the beginning of his MERZ pictures. For Schwitters, his collages and assemblages were an artistic revolution in which art and life merged through the combination of refuse and found objects of modern life into new, glorified forms. As his neighbour in Hanover recounted, "a crazy, original genius-character, carelessly dressed, absorbed in his own thoughts, picking up all sorts of curious stuff in the streets... always getting down from his bike to pick up some colourful piece of paper that somebody had thrown away” (Steinitz, 1968, p. 68). From these found fragments, Schwitters constructed poetic constellations that expressed a new formal language and pointed to a hidden order within the apparent chaos of the times. Executed in 1921, “Mz 255 Dromedar” is a marvellous example of Schwitters’ MERZ collages. Shortly after its creation in the 1920s, the work was acquired in Germany by ancestors of the current owner and has been in the familys private collection ever since. This sheet, which is listed as lost in the catalogue raisonné, is a beautiful rediscovery. KURT SCHWITTERS (Hannover 1887–1948 Kendal) Mz 255 Dromedar. 1921. Collage auf Papier. Unten rechts auf dem Passpartout signiert und datiert: K. Schwitters 21, und unten links betitelt: Mz 255 / Dromedar. Verso bezeichnet: MZ 255 300. 17,4 × 14,7 cm (Collage). Provenienz: - Wilhelm Uhde, Paris, 1921 (zur Ansicht). - Privatsammlung Deutschland, in den 1920er-Jahren wohl in Dresden erworben. - Schweizer Privatsammlung, durch Erbschaft von Obigem über mehrere Generationen an den heutigen Besitzer und seit Erwerb im gleichen Familienbesitz. Literatur: Karin Orchard und Isabel Schulz: Kurt Schwitters, Catalogue Raisonné 1905–1922, Hatje Cantz 2000, Bd. 1, S. 403, Nr. 846. "Ich nannte meine neue Gestaltung mit prinzipiell jedem Material MERZ. Das ist**2te Silbe von Kommerz. Es entstand beim Merzbilde, einem Bilde, auf dem unter abstrakten Formen das Wort MERZ, aufgeklebt und ausgeschnitten aus einer Anzeige der KOMMERZ UND PRIVATBANK, zu lesen war. Dieses Wort MERZ war durch Abstimmen gegen**anderen Bildteile selbst Bildteil geworden, und so musste es dort stehen. (…) Ich nannte nun alle meine Bilder als Gattung nach dem charakteristischen Bilde MERZbilder. Sp?ter erweiterte ich**Bezeichnung MERZ erst auf meine Dichtung (…), und endlich auf all meine entsprechende T?tigkeit. Jetzt nenne ich mich selbst MERZ." (Elderfield 1986, S. 13) 1919 befindet sich Deutschland in einer Zeit des Umbruchs. Es ist kurz nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg, im Land herrscht Hyperinflation, Revolution und Kontrarevolution. Inspiriert durch den Sturm und**zeitgleiche Bewegung der Dadaisten, gründet Schwitters in Hannover seine eigene "Ein-Mann" Avantgarde,**er kurzerhand zur MERZ-Revolution erkl?rt. Schwitters beginnt in dieser Zeit mit der Collage zu arbeiten. Es ist der Beginn seiner MERZ-Bilder. Für Schwitters sind seine Collagen und Assemblagen eine künstlerische Revolution, in der Kunst und Leben durch das Zusammenfügen von Fragmenten und Trümmern des modernen Lebens zu neuen, verherrlichten Formen verschmelzen. Als "eine verrückte, originelle, geniale Figur, nachl?ssig gekleidet, in seine eigenen Gedanken vertieft, alle m?glichen kuriosen Dinge auf der Stra?e aufhebend ... immer wieder von seinem Fahrrad absteigend, um irgendein buntes Stück Papier aufzuheben, das jemand weggeworfen hatte" wird er von seiner Nachbarin in Hannover beschrieben. (Steinitz 1968, S. 68). Aus diesen gefundenen Fragmenten konstruiert Schwitters poetische Konstellationen,**eine neue Formensprache zum Ausdruck bringen und auf eine verborgene Ordnung im scheinbaren Chaos der Zeit hindeuten. "Mz 255 Dromedar" entsteht 1921 und ist ein wunderbares Beispiel für Schwitters MERZ-Collagen. Das Werk wurde kurz nach dessen Entstehung in den 1920er-Jahren von den Vorfahren des heutigen Besitzers in Deutschland erworben und befand sich bis heute in der privaten Familiensammlung. Das Blatt, welches im Werkverzeichnis als verschollen gekennzeichnet wird, ist eine besonders sch?ne Wiederentdeckung.
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