The Kurt Schwitters Archive was established at the Sprengel Museum Hannover in 1994, and contains the most comprehensive documentation of his life and work. It holds the Kurt Schwitters catalogue raisonné, detailing Kurt Schwitters’ artistic oeuvre which was compiled by Karin Orchard and Isabel Schulz. The 112 original works by Kurt Schwitters in the Sprengel Museum Hannover collection are complemented by 1,012 works of art on permanent loan from the Kurt und Ernst Schwitters Foundation to the Sprengel Museum Hannover, making up the most complete collection of his works in the world.
Kurt Schwitters (born in Hanover in 1887 – died in Kendal, UK in 1948) was one of the most individual and multi-facetted artists during the first half of the 20th century. His creative brilliance manifested itself in a number of artistic media: first and foremost, assemblage and collage, as well as abstract and representational painting, drawings, bas relief and sculpture, and in the applied arts, typography, architecture, the art of public speaking and performance. He was also active along literary lines, realising verse, theatre pieces, prose, art critiques, and even writing music. His development and interests defy categorisation; his work was devoted to his very individual concept, “Merz”, which negates borders between types of art, between the deep and meaningful and the utterly banal, between art and life. “Merz establishes relationships, ideally, between all things in this world“.
Since its establishment in 1994, the Kurt Schwitters Archive at the Sprengel Museum Hannover has been continually active on an international level as a place of research with regard to Kurt Schwitters and his circle. It is open to both art historians and the general public. The catalogue raisonné, published 2000 - 2006, consists of a comprehensive collection of images which enables you to search the archive’s data base as well as a special library containing related literature comprising 3,200 titles, nearly all of which are readily available. It also presents information on 1,200 solo and group exhibitions. The archive, moreover, contains documents, correspondence and typescripts offering the ideal approach for delving into Kurt Schwitters’ career.
Kurt Schwitters (born in Hanover in 1887 – died in Kendal, UK in 1948) was one of the most individual and multi-facetted artists during the first half of the 20th century. His creative brilliance manifested itself in a number of artistic media: first and foremost, assemblage and collage, as well as abstract and representational painting, drawings, bas relief and sculpture, and in the applied arts, typography, architecture, the art of public speaking and performance. He was also active along literary lines, realising verse, theatre pieces, prose, art critiques, and even writing music. His development and interests defy categorisation; his work was devoted to his very individual concept, “Merz”, which negates borders between types of art, between the deep and meaningful and the utterly banal, between art and life. “Merz establishes relationships, ideally, between all things in this world“.
Since its establishment in 1994, the Kurt Schwitters Archive at the Sprengel Museum Hannover has been continually active on an international level as a place of research with regard to Kurt Schwitters and his circle. It is open to both art historians and the general public. The catalogue raisonné, published 2000 - 2006, consists of a comprehensive collection of images which enables you to search the archive’s data base as well as a special library containing related literature comprising 3,200 titles, nearly all of which are readily available. It also presents information on 1,200 solo and group exhibitions. The archive, moreover, contains documents, correspondence and typescripts offering the ideal approach for delving into Kurt Schwitters’ career.
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