Kurt Schwitters: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Kurt Schwitters turned Hanover tram tickets and torn posters into Merz, a one-man movement that spanned collage, typography, architecture and sound poetry. This mix traces the Zurich and Berlin Dada currents he absorbed, the Hanover scene and constructivist allies who shaped his design work, and the assemblage and performance artists who rebuilt his method after 1945.

The Kynda mix for Kurt Schwitters

• Key Influence · Collage with Squares Arranged according to the Laws of Chance by Hans Arp (1917). Arp was Schwitters' closest Dada touchstone and eventual friend: the Zurich Dadaists' chance-based paper collages showed that discarded scraps could carry pictorial weight, and Schwitters credited Dada as the catalyst for Merz in 1919. Arp later contributed to Schwitters' Merz magazine and the two circulated in the same abstraction-international orbit, making Arp's torn-paper rectangles the direct formal ancestor of the Merzbilder.
• Influencia Obscura · fmsbwtözäu (poster poem) by Raoul Hausmann (1918). Hausmann's typographic poster poems, assembled from printer's type cases, are the documented seed of Schwitters' Ursonate: Schwitters heard Hausmann perform the sequence and built his half-hour sonata on its opening phonemes. The borrowing soured relations between the Berlin Dadaist and the Hanover outsider, but it is the single most concrete source in Schwitters' sound work and almost unknown outside specialist literature.
• Local Roots · Die Scheuche (The Scarecrow) by Käte Steinitz (1925). Steinitz was Schwitters' key Hanover ally, a painter and writer in the Kestnergesellschaft milieu who co-authored this typographic children's fairy tale with him and Theo van Doesburg, setting the story entirely in printer's rules, type and ornaments. Her memoirs later became a primary record of Schwitters' studio life and of the Merzbau's growth through his Waldhausenstrasse apartment.
• Beyond the Medium · Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Wassily Kandinsky (1911). Kandinsky's treatise argued that colour and form carry meaning independent of depiction, and that painting should aspire to music's abstraction. Schwitters read deeply in Expressionist theory through Der Sturm, and Merz restates the claim materially: a bus ticket, a nail and a wheel equalised as pure pictorial elements. Kandinsky also later joined the same abstraction-international networks Schwitters frequented.
• Peer · Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada through the Last Weimar Beer Belly Cultural Epoch by Hannah Höch (1919). Höch was Schwitters' exact contemporary in photomontage and remained on friendly terms with him even as the Berlin Dada group, led by Hausmann and Huelsenbeck, blocked his membership for being insufficiently political. Her machine-age montage of Weimar faces and gears is the overtly satirical counterpart to his apolitical lyricism, the same scissors aimed at opposite targets in the same year.
• From the Canon · Das Undbild by Kurt Schwitters (1919). One of the first Merzbilder, built from wire mesh, wooden slats and printed fragments around the word 'und'. It shows the method at the moment of invention: refuse from bombed-out, blockaded Hanover assembled with academic compositional rigour, the picture plane still obeying painting's rules while its substance is garbage. Everything Schwitters did for the next thirty years is latent in this panel.
• Key Collaborator · Merz 8/9: Nasci by El Lissitzky (1924). Co-edited by Lissitzky and Schwitters in Hanover, this double issue of Merz aligned organic growth with constructivist form and is one of the great documents of 1920s typography. The collaboration converted Schwitters into a working graphic designer — the Pelikan ink campaigns, the standardised Hanover city typography — and gave constructivism a German publishing outlet beyond Soviet borders.
• Legacy · Monogram by Robert Rauschenberg (1959). Rauschenberg repeatedly named Schwitters as the artist he felt closest to, saying the Merz pictures made him feel the work had been made for him. His Combines take Schwitters' street salvage off the page and onto a mural scale, with tyres, stuffed goats and bedding; the postwar American reclamation of assemblage runs almost entirely through this acknowledgement.

What influenced Kurt Schwitters

• Jean Arp. The article attributes Schwitters’s early abstract collages in particular to Arp’s work. “his first abstract collages, influenced in particular by recent works by Jean Arp, would appear in late 1918” (Wikipedia)
• Dada. The article says Schwitters used Dadaist ideas in his work. “Though not a direct participant in Berlin Dada 's activities, Schwitters employed Dadaist ideas in his work, used the word itself on the cover of An Anna Blume” (Wikipedia)
• Constructivism. The article says Constructivism directly influenced Schwitters’s Merz pictures. “His friendship around this time with El Lissitzky proved particularly influential, and Merz pictures in this period show the direct influence of Constructivism.” (Wikipedia)
• Cubism. The article identifies Cubism as an earlier influence on Schwitters’s work. “Schwitters's work became less influenced by Cubism and Expressionism.” (Wikipedia)
• Expressionism. The article identifies Expressionism as an earlier influence on Schwitters’s work. “Schwitters's work became less influenced by Cubism and Expressionism.” (Wikipedia)
• Karawane by Hugo Ball (1916). Karawane (Hugo Ball) — titan for Kurt Schwitters (wikidata.org)
• Der Sturm by Herwarth Walden (1910). Der Sturm (Herwarth Walden) — titan for Kurt Schwitters “It was like a revolution within me, not as it was, but as it should have been." === Der Sturm === Schwitters was to come into contact with Herwarth Walden after exhibiting expressionist paintings at the Hanover Secession in February 1918.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Large Glass (The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even) by Marcel Duchamp (1923). The Large Glass (The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even) (Marcel Duchamp) — culture for Kurt Schwitters “Key figures in the movement, apart from Duchamp, included: Hugo Ball, Emmy Hennings, Hans Arp, Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch, Johannes Baader, Tristan Tzara, Francis Picabia, Richard Huelsenbeck, Georg Grosz, John Heartfield, Beatrice Wood…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Du: Liebesgedichte by August Stramm (1915). Du: Liebesgedichte (August Stramm) — ghost for Kurt Schwitters “Then, Dadaism and Kurt Schwitters took Stramm as their starting point.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• fmsbwtözäu (poster poem) by Raoul Hausmann (1918). fmsbwtözäu (poster poem) (Raoul Hausmann) — ghost for Kurt Schwitters “This resulted in meetings with members of the Berlin avant-garde, including Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch, and Jean Arp in the autumn of 1918.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Wassily Kandinsky (1911). Concerning the Spiritual in Art (Wassily Kandinsky) — culture for Kurt Schwitters (openlibrary.org)
• Goethe's Faust, Part One by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1808). Goethe's Faust, Part One (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) — culture for Kurt Schwitters
• Collage with Squares Arranged according to the Laws of Chance by Hans Arp (1917). Collage with Squares Arranged according to the Laws of Chance (Hans Arp) — titan for Kurt Schwitters

Peers and kindred spirits

• El Lissitzky. Lissitzky worked with Schwitters on an issue of Merz. (also via Merz 8/9: Nasci, Proun 19D) “Together with Schwitters and van Doesburg, Lissitzky presented the idea of an international artistic movement under the guidelines of constructivism while also working with Kurt Schwitters on the issue Nasci (Nature) of the periodical Me…” (Wikipedia)
• Raoul Hausmann. Schwitters participated in lecture tours with Hausmann. (also via Pin, fmsbwtözäu (poster poem)) “He started to organize and participate in lecture tours with other members of the international avant-garde, such as Jean Arp, Raoul Hausmann and Tristan Tzara” (Wikipedia)
• Theo van Doesburg. Schwitters and Theo van Doesburg performed in the same Dada programme. (also via Counter-Composition V) “Eventually the programme comprised acts and performances by Theo van Doesburg, Nelly van Doesburg as Petrò Van Doesburg, Kurt Schwitters, and sometimes Vilmos Huszàr .” (Wikipedia)
• Pin by Raoul Hausmann (1962). Pin (Raoul Hausmann) — collaborator for Kurt Schwitters “This resulted in meetings with members of the Berlin avant-garde, including Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch, and Jean Arp in the autumn of 1918.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Tristan Tzara. Schwitters participated in lecture tours with Tzara. “He started to organize and participate in lecture tours with other members of the international avant-garde, such as Jean Arp, Raoul Hausmann and Tristan Tzara” (Wikipedia)
• Thijs Rinsema. The article reports a probable collage-making collaboration with Rinsema. “Schwitters created several collages there, probably together with Thijs Rinsema. Their collages can sometimes hardly be distinguished from each other.” (Wikipedia)
• Counter-Composition V by Theo van Doesburg (1924). Counter-Composition V (Theo van Doesburg) — peer for Kurt Schwitters “Though not a direct participant in Berlin Dada's activities, Schwitters employed Dadaist ideas in his work, used the word itself on the cover of An Anna Blume, and would later give Dada recitals throughout Europe on the subject with Theo…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Proun 19D by El Lissitzky (1920). Proun 19D (El Lissitzky) — geography for Kurt Schwitters “Merz 5 1923, for instance, was a portfolio of prints by Jean Arp, Merz 8/9, 1924, was edited and typeset by El Lissitzky, Merz 14/15, 1925, was a typographical children's story entitled The Scarecrow by Schwitters, Kätte Steinitz and The…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Deutscher Werkbund. Schwitters joined the Deutscher Werkbund. “In the late 1920s Schwitters joined the Deutscher Werkbund (German Work Federation).” (Wikipedia)
• Vilmos Huszár. Huszár sometimes performed in the Dada programme with Schwitters. “Eventually the programme comprised acts and performances by Theo van Doesburg, Nelly van Doesburg as Petrò Van Doesburg, Kurt Schwitters, and sometimes Vilmos Huszàr .” (Wikipedia)
• Nelly van Doesburg. Schwitters and Nelly van Doesburg performed in the same Dada programme. “Eventually the programme comprised acts and performances by Theo van Doesburg, Nelly van Doesburg as Petrò Van Doesburg, Kurt Schwitters, and sometimes Vilmos Huszàr .” (Wikipedia)
• Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada Through the Last Weimar Beer Belly Cultural Epoch by Hannah Höch (1919). Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada through the Last Weimar Beer Belly Cultural Epoch (Hannah Höch) — peer for Kurt Schwitters “This resulted in meetings with members of the Berlin avant-garde, including Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch, and Jean Arp in the autumn of 1918.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Marcel Duchamp. Merzbau (Kurt Schwitters) — peer for Marcel Duchamp (via Merzbau, The Large Glass (The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even)) (wikidata.org)
• Die Scheuche (The Scarecrow) by Käte Steinitz (1925). Die Scheuche (The Scarecrow) (Käte Steinitz) — geography for Kurt Schwitters “During his time in Ambleside Schwitters created a sequence of proto-pop art pictures, such as For Käte, 1947, after the encouragement from his friend, Käte Steinitz.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Merz 8/9: Nasci by El Lissitzky (1924). Merz 8/9: Nasci (El Lissitzky) — collaborator for Kurt Schwitters “Merz 5 1923, for instance, was a portfolio of prints by Jean Arp, Merz 8/9, 1924, was edited and typeset by El Lissitzky, Merz 14/15, 1925, was a typographical children's story entitled The Scarecrow by Schwitters, Kätte Steinitz and The…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Une Semaine de Bonté by Max Ernst (1934). Une semaine de bonté (Max Ernst) — peer for Kurt Schwitters (wikidata.org)
• Anna Blume (Steegemann edition) by Paul Steegemann (1919). Anna Blume (Steegemann edition) (Paul Steegemann) — collaborator for Kurt Schwitters
• Kestnerbuch by Paul Erich Küppers (1919). Kestnerbuch (Paul Erich Küppers) — geography for Kurt Schwitters

Who Kurt Schwitters influenced

• British Sea Power. British Sea Power referenced Schwitters’s work in songs and live shows. “Scott sent me a picture of Kurt Schwitters' typeface. I was trying to figure out how we could use it in all our artwork.” (Drowned in Sound)
• Damien Hirst. Hirst is listed among artists who cited Schwitters as a major influence. “It was Rauschenberg, de Kooning and a bit of Schwitters. It had been done to death and they told me so.” (The Observer)
• Robert Rauschenberg. Rauschenberg is listed among artists who cited Schwitters as a major influence. (also via Das Undbild, Monogram) “Many artists have cited Schwitters as a major influence, including Ed Ruscha , [ 61 ] Robert Rauschenberg , [ 62 ] Damien Hirst , [ 63 ] Al Hansen , [ 64 ] Anne Ryan , and Arman .” (Wikipedia)
• Anne Ryan. Ryan is listed among artists who cited Schwitters as a major influence. “Anne Ryan discovered collage after seeing the Kurt Schwitters memorial exhibition in 1948. Within the remaining six years of her life, Ryan transformed Schwitters' influence into a quiet poetic vision of her own.” (Artforum)
• Arman. Arman is listed among artists who cited Schwitters as a major influence. (also via Accumulation of Sliced Teapots) “Many artists have cited Schwitters as a major influence, including Ed Ruscha , [ 61 ] Robert Rauschenberg , [ 62 ] Damien Hirst , [ 63 ] Al Hansen , [ 64 ] Anne Ryan , and Arman .” (Wikipedia)
• Merzsuite – Let Us Join Together in a Tune, Umore, Futt Futt Futt. Tonio K dedicated the track to Schwitters. “Tonio K dedicated the track "Merzsuite – Let Us Join Together in a Tune, Umore, Futt Futt Futt" on his album Amerika to Kurt Schwitters.” (Wikipedia)
• Jutta Koether. Koether was commissioned to make an installation work in response to Schwitters. “Contemporary artists Jutta Koether, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Kenneth Goldsmith, Eline McGeorge and Karl Holmqvist were commissioned to make new installation works in 2009 in response to Kurt Schwitters” (Wikipedia)
• The Man with Wheels. Childish made a short film about Schwitters’s life. “Billy Childish made a short film on Schwitters' life, titled The Man with Wheels (1980, directed by Eugean Doyan).” (Wikipedia)
• Al Hansen. Hansen is listed among artists who cited Schwitters as a major influence. “Many artists have cited Schwitters as a major influence, including Ed Ruscha , [ 61 ] Robert Rauschenberg , [ 62 ] Damien Hirst , [ 63 ] Al Hansen , [ 64 ] Anne Ryan , and Arman .” (Wikipedia)
• Merzbow. Merzbow took his performing name from Schwitters. “Japanese musician Merzbow took his name from Schwitters.” (Wikipedia)
• Man and Boy: Dada. The opera fictionalizes an encounter involving Schwitters. “A fictionalised account of Schwitters's encounter with a boy in London and their dispute over a bus ticket is the subject of Man and Boy: Dada , an opera by Michael Nyman and Michael Hastings .” (Wikipedia)
• Ed Ruscha. Ruscha is listed among artists who cited Schwitters as a major influence. “Many artists have cited Schwitters as a major influence, including Ed Ruscha , [ 61 ] Robert Rauschenberg , [ 62 ] Damien Hirst , [ 63 ] Al Hansen , [ 64 ] Anne Ryan , and Arman .” (Wikipedia)
• Kurt's Rejoinder. Eno sampled a recording of Ursonate on the track. (via Ursonate) “Brian Eno sampled Schwitters's recording of Ursonate for the "Kurt's Rejoinder" track on his 1977 album, Before and after Science .” (Wikipedia)
• Schwitt/Urs. Matmos used Ursonate in Schwitt/Urs. (via Ursonate) “Electronic music duo Matmos used Ursonate in Schwitt/Urs on Quasi-Objects .” (Wikipedia)
• Sound Unbound. DJ Spooky included Schwitters’s poem in a Sound Unbound mix. (via An Anna Blume) “DJ Spooky included Anna Blume in a mix in his Sound Unbound project.” (Wikipedia)
• Anna. Freundeskreis quoted Schwitters’s poem in the song. (via An Anna Blume) “The German hip-hop band Freundeskreis quoted from his poem An Anna Blume in their hit single "ANNA".” (Wikipedia)
• Ratatatay. Chumbawamba incorporated extracts from Ursonate into the song. (via Ursonate) “Chumbawamba include extracts from Ursonate in their song "Ratatatay".” (Wikipedia)
• Let's Do It A Dada. The song includes samples of a member reciting Ursonate. (via Ursonate) “Einstürzende Neubauten include samples of member N. U. Unruh reciting Ursonate in the song "Let's Do It A Dada" on the album Alles wieder offen .” (Wikipedia)
• Primiti Too Taa. The animation uses part of Ursonate as its soundtrack and visualizes its sounds. (via Ursonate) “Ed Ackerman and Colin Morton's 1986 stop-action animation Primiti Too Taa has a soundtrack of part of "Ursonate" and visuals are spellings of the sounds done by an unseen typewriter.” (Wikipedia)
• Urbirds singing the Sonata. Astrid Seme’s sound work responds to Schwitters’s creation of Ursonate. (via Ursonate) “The multi-channel sound work Urbirds singing the Sonata by the artist Astrid Seme narrates what Kurt Schwitters might have heard when he wrote the Ursonate and its rhythmic score.” (Wikipedia)
• Accumulation of Sliced Teapots by Arman (1964). Accumulation of Sliced Teapots (Arman) — legacy for Kurt Schwitters “=== Influences === Many artists have cited Schwitters as a major influence, including Ed Ruscha, Robert Rauschenberg, Damien Hirst, Al Hansen, Anne Ryan, and Arman.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Monogram by Robert Rauschenberg (1959). Monogram (Robert Rauschenberg) — legacy for Kurt Schwitters “(En Morn, 1947, for instance, has a print of a blonde young girl included, prefiguring the early work of Eduardo Paolozzi, whilst many works seem to have directly influenced Robert Rauschenberg, who said after seeing an exhibition of Sch…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Bunk by Eduardo Paolozzi (1952). Bunk (Eduardo Paolozzi) — legacy for Kurt Schwitters “(En Morn, 1947, for instance, has a print of a blonde young girl included, prefiguring the early work of Eduardo Paolozzi, whilst many works seem to have directly influenced Robert Rauschenberg, who said after seeing an exhibition of Sch…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Frank Gehry (1929). Merzbau (Kurt Schwitters) — ghost for Frank Gehry (via Merzbau) (wikidata.org)
• Captain Beefheart. Ursonate (Kurt Schwitters) — culture for Captain Beefheart (via Ursonate) (wikidata.org)
• Paul Auster. The article connects Auster’s repeated use of the name Anna Blume with Schwitters’s poem named earlier on the page. (via An Anna Blume)