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Lot Essay
Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948) was a German painter, sculptor, designer and writer. He became associated with the Dada movement in Berlin after meeting Hans Arp, Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch and Richard Huelsenbeck, and he began to make collages that he called Merzbilder. From 1922 to 1930 Schwitters's art was indebted to Russian Constructivism and to De Stijl. Both movements had a great impact in Germany, particularly at the Bauhaus, and Schwitters was a friend of Theo van Doesburg for example on Die Scheuche, a childrens book published as a special issue of Merz in 1925. (www.moma.org)
Truus Schröder said in an interview the following about Kurt Schwitters:
"But after my husband died things began to change. For example, Rietveld came one time and asked if Kurt Schwitters could come one evening and give a performance; Schwitters was in Utrecht for a short time. So he came. It was great fun, Rietveld had invited several people. I don't think I'd asked anyone.
I remember very clearly how the children sat at the top of the staircase with the maid, listening to Schwitters' booming. My goodness, could he boom! And later when I went up to see them, the children told me they'd loved it, but the maid said it was 'more than shocking'!
What did you think of that 'Dada evening'?
Oh, what was it Schwitters said to me? Something like, 'Habe ich Ihnen Freude gemacht'. I said, Yes! - I'd really enjoyed it enormously. He made me laugh uproariously. Well, Schwitters liked that, he liked to 'entertain' you." (P. Overy et al., The Rietveld Schröder House, Houten, 1988, pp. 47-48)
Truus Schröder said in an interview the following about Kurt Schwitters:
"But after my husband died things began to change. For example, Rietveld came one time and asked if Kurt Schwitters could come one evening and give a performance; Schwitters was in Utrecht for a short time. So he came. It was great fun, Rietveld had invited several people. I don't think I'd asked anyone.
I remember very clearly how the children sat at the top of the staircase with the maid, listening to Schwitters' booming. My goodness, could he boom! And later when I went up to see them, the children told me they'd loved it, but the maid said it was 'more than shocking'!
What did you think of that 'Dada evening'?
Oh, what was it Schwitters said to me? Something like, 'Habe ich Ihnen Freude gemacht'. I said, Yes! - I'd really enjoyed it enormously. He made me laugh uproariously. Well, Schwitters liked that, he liked to 'entertain' you." (P. Overy et al., The Rietveld Schröder House, Houten, 1988, pp. 47-48)