newsletter2 dec 2010 - the kurt schwitters societykurtschwitterstoday.org/news2.pdflondon symphony...

EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL EDITORIAL

Inside This Issue

1111 EditorialEditorialEditorialEditorial

2222 EventsEventsEventsEvents ---- Germany Germany Germany Germany

3333 Events Events Events Events –––– UK/ObituaryUK/ObituaryUK/ObituaryUK/Obituary

4444 EEEEvents vents vents vents ---- USA USA USA USA

5555 Book reviewBook reviewBook reviewBook review

6666 News News News News

7777 New New New New publications/videospublications/videospublications/videospublications/videos

8888 KSUK KSUK KSUK KSUK

The Kurt Schwitters Society

UK (KSUK) was founded in

mid-2010 in order to

improve communication between those interested

in the different aspects of

the work of Kurt Schwitters.

The society informs

members on current

research and publications

relating to Schwitters and

his circle and also provides

information on forthcoming events.

Newsletter 2 December 2010

Since the first issue of our newsletter in October, we have been delighted to welcome a number of new members from Britain, Europe and the US. In addition we have received extremely generous gifts of financial support from John Elderfield and German Life and Letters, which will enable us to set up a website in the New Year.

If you haven’t already subscribed to KSUK, you will find more information on the last page of the Newsletter. Members from Europe can also pay in Euros; please contact us for more details.

As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions.

Gwendolen Webster

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KSUK

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KSUK NEWSLETTER 2 December 2010

EVENTS - GERMANY

International SymposiumInternational SymposiumInternational SymposiumInternational Symposium Transgression und Intermedialität. Die Texte von Kurt Transgression und Intermedialität. Die Texte von Kurt Transgression und Intermedialität. Die Texte von Kurt Transgression und Intermedialität. Die Texte von Kurt Schwitters.Schwitters.Schwitters.Schwitters. Sprengel Museum, Hannover, 18-20 March 2011. More information under http://www.sprengel-museum.de/kuenstlervermittungen__veranstaltungen/tagungen_und_symposien/tagung-im-sprengel-museum-hannover-transgression-und-intermedialitaet-die-texte-von-kurt-schwitters.htm?snr=1

Anna Blume und ich. Zeichnungen von Kurt SchwittersAnna Blume und ich. Zeichnungen von Kurt SchwittersAnna Blume und ich. Zeichnungen von Kurt SchwittersAnna Blume und ich. Zeichnungen von Kurt Schwitters Sprengel Museum, Hannover, 15.4 – 4.9 2011

This exhibition offers visitors the opportunity for the very first time to savour a significant yet often ignored part of Kurt Schwitters' (1887–1948) oeuvre beyond the works he realised as a “Merz” artist. Many of these approx. one hundred selected multifarious works on paper will come as a surprise, as they have never been exhibited before; they were part of the Hanover-based artist's estate and represent significant watersheds in his career. They also show the development in the styles he used to express himself. Schwitters' path towards abstraction in the period around 1917 led to his next important phase, in which he experimented with Dadaism and with issues that continued to concern him for the rest of his career, while still realising both abstract compositions and landscape pieces. It demonstrates how the Merz-artist clearly considered nature studies to be much more than mere finger exercises. On the contrary, they were a source of crucial inspiration throughout his life, also providing him with a counterweight to his other work. Travel sketches and portraits stand for his drawn works as a whole during his periods in exile in Norway and England from 1937 on. The exhibition has been made possible in co-operation with the Kurt and Ernst Schwitters Stiftung, Hannover, and the Kunstmuseum (museum of the arts) in Berne.

A richly illustrated guide and catalogue (in German) are available (Hatje Cantz Verlag).

http://www.hatjecantz.de/controller.php?cmd=detail&titzif=00002753

The KURT AND ERNST KURT AND ERNST KURT AND ERNST KURT AND ERNST SCHWITTERS FOUNDATIOSCHWITTERS FOUNDATIOSCHWITTERS FOUNDATIOSCHWITTERS FOUNDATIONNNN is a non-profit organization first established in 2001 by Lola Schwitters, the daughter-in-law of Kurt Schwitters and the widow of Ernst Schwitters, with the full consent and support of her son Bengt Schwitters. The Foundation is based at the Sprengel Museum,

Hanover. The Kurt and Ernst Schwitters Foundation controls the usage rights to all works by Kurt and Ernst Schwitters. For more information on rights, see http://www.schwitters-stiftung.de/english/copyright.html A list of publications by the Kurt und Ernst Schwitters Foundation is available on http://www.schwitters-stiftung.de/english/publikationen.html

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20102010KSSUK NEWSLETTER tle

KURT SCHWITTERS – EINE REISE DURCH DIE KUNST KURT SCHWITTERS – A JOURNEY THROUGH ART By Roger Cardinal and Gwendolen Webster Published by Hatje Cantz Verlag, Stuttgart 160 pp., ca. 125 illustrations, 85 in colour 22,50 x 28,50 cm, hardcover Publication date: February 2011 ISBN 978-3-7757-2512-5 (German) ISBN 978-3-7757-2511-8 (English) http://www.hatjecantz.de/controller.php?cmd=detail&titzif=00002512&lang=en

This overview of Schwitters’s life and

work sheds fresh light on his art, his writings, and his ventures into

commercial art. It also offers a new perspective

on the Merzbau, the monumental interior he referred to as his “life’s

work.”

160 pp., ca. 125 ills., 85 in color

Publication date:

March 2011

ISBN (German edition) 978-3-7757-2512-5 ISBN (English edition) 978-3-7757-2511-8

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Schwitters Kurt Schwitters Kurt Schwitters –––– A Journey A Journey A Journey A Journey tttthrough hrough hrough hrough AAAArtrtrtrt

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EVENTS – UK

MERZMAN exhibitions (17th February MERZMAN exhibitions (17th February MERZMAN exhibitions (17th February MERZMAN exhibitions (17th February ---- 7th April, 2011) 7th April, 2011) 7th April, 2011) 7th April, 2011) The opening reception for the lead MERZMAN exhibitions at CUBE Gallery and Castlefield Gallery will be on Thursday 17th February 2011. It is anticipated that other exhibitions, performances, schools projects, and public events will be programmed from the first week of March onwards, culminating with a one day conference, Kurt Schwitters in the NWKurt Schwitters in the NWKurt Schwitters in the NWKurt Schwitters in the NW, proposed for Saturday 26th March. MERZ Concert and perforMERZ Concert and perforMERZ Concert and perforMERZ Concert and performance projectsmance projectsmance projectsmance projects Some exhibitions will close in the first week of April, but March will be the main focus for other Schwitters-related public events, exhibitions and seminars. Iin Manchester and Salford a second phase of the programme; MERZTEXTE, MERZTEXTE, MERZTEXTE, MERZTEXTE, will commence on Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday 1st May 1st May 1st May 1st May at BuryBuryBuryBury Art Gallery Art Gallery Art Gallery Art Gallery, as part of their international TEXT festival; http://www.textfestival.com RRRRoyal Academy Schwitters projectsoyal Academy Schwitters projectsoyal Academy Schwitters projectsoyal Academy Schwitters projects, London, London, London, London,,,, 2011 2011 2011 2011 The Royal Academy's next major exhibition; Modern British Sculpture (Jan. - April 2011) will open on January 22nd with the first public exhibition of Schwitters’ Merz Barn as an unfinished art work. The Merz Barn is being re-constructed at full scale on site at the RA by a team of Cumbrian artists and stone wallers. When finished, the Merz Barn will occupy a prominent position inside the main Piccadillyentrance to the RA. More under http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23875495-shed-those-preconceptions-and-you-will-see-its-art.do For more information, contact LITTORAL Arts on T. 01706 827961, M. 07796 609 167 E-Mail: [email protected], LITTORAL Arts, T. 0044 1706 827961, M. 07796 609 167, E-Mail. <

OBITUARYOBITUARYOBITUARYOBITUARY It was with deep regret that we received the announcement of the passing away of Professor Nigel Whiteley on October 5th, 2010. Nigel held the post of Professor of Visual Arts at the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, Lancaster University, for thirty years, and also lectured worldwide. There is no space here to list the details of his illustrious career, his extensive publications and his role as a valued member of the Kurt Schwitters in England Working Group, but more can be found on the Lancaster University website under http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/profiles/Nigel-Whiteley/LICA/ Nigel’s lecture on Schwitters and Intermediality, given at the KS07 Autumn School in Elterwater in 2007, will be reproduced in a forthcoming issue of the KSUK journal. Nigel Whiteley will be remembered as a gentle, kindly, modest and extraordinarily knowledgeable colleague who will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with his wife Diane and his children Daniel and Ella.

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Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage the first overview of Schwitters’ work in the U.S. since the 1985 MoMA retrospective.

The exhibition includes Peter Bissegger’s Merzbau reconstruction and ca. 100 assemblages, reliefs, sculptures, and collages.

Exhibition venues:

• currently at the Menil Collection, Houston (ends on 30 Jan 2011) ) http://www.menil.org/exhibitions/KurtSchwittersColorandCollage.php

• Princeton University Art Museum

http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/events/schwitters • (26 March – 5 June 2011)

• University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (3 August – 27 Nov. 2011)

SOCIAL MEDIA

If you are signed up If you are signed up If you are signed up If you are signed up on Facebook, you on Facebook, you on Facebook, you on Facebook, you can log into Kurt can log into Kurt can log into Kurt can log into Kurt Schwitters Society, Schwitters Society, Schwitters Society, Schwitters Society, UK, our temporary UK, our temporary UK, our temporary UK, our temporary website. The KSUK website. The KSUK website. The KSUK website. The KSUK page lists interesting page lists interesting page lists interesting page lists interesting links relating to links relating to links relating to links relating to Schwitters and is Schwitters and is Schwitters and is Schwitters and is regularly updated. regularly updated. regularly updated. regularly updated. We are also on We are also on We are also on We are also on Twitter under Twitter under Twitter under Twitter under #schwitters_society#schwitters_society#schwitters_society#schwitters_society....

EVENTS – USA

The catalogue of Kurt Schwitters, Color and CollageKurt Schwitters, Color and CollageKurt Schwitters, Color and CollageKurt Schwitters, Color and Collage includes an illustrated chronology and 90 color plates of assemblages, reliefs, sculptures, and collages. The selection not only illuminates the artist’s response to the dominant art movements of his time but also illustrates his unique composition and design.

Kurt Schwitters Color and CollageKurt Schwitters Color and CollageKurt Schwitters Color and CollageKurt Schwitters Color and Collage, ed . Isabel Schulz. With contributions by Leah Dickerman, Clare Elliott, Isabel Schulz, and Gwendolen Webster. Yale University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780300166118

http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300166118

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BOOK REVIEW THREE STORIES BY KURT SCHWITTERS with a tribute by E.L.T. Mesens and a response by Ernst Schwitters; edited by Jasia Reichardt, Tate Publishing, London 2010. ISBN 978 1 85437 909 2 The title of this curious little anthology is somewhat misleading, for in addition to three

stories by Kurt Schwitters, it contains a poem, an essay by the Belgian Surrealist E.L.T. Mesens, and a less than affable exchange of letters between Mesens and Ernst Schwitters, the artist’s son. What connects this seemingly arbitrary collection of documents is the fact that they are all to be found in the Stefan Themerson archive in London, whose director Jasia Reichardt (a niece of Themerson and his wife Franciszka) is the editor of this volume. Jasia Reichardt states in her introduction that ‘Schwitters’ stories and poems, like his art, are autobiographical, all woven round his experiences’. Whether one subscribes to this theory or not, this book certainly bears witness to four key stations of Schwitters’ years of exile. The Idiot recalls his sojourns on the tiny Norwegian isle of Hjertøya in the 1930s; the whimsical tale of the Flat and Round Painter was written during his internment on the Isle of Man; The Landlady is less a story than a caustic portrait of a draconian boarding-house owner encountered by the unfortunate Schwitters in Ambleside in 1945. The poem London Symphony is a poignant litany of phrases glimpsed in wartime London, an evocative voicing of the longings, despair and not least the wry sense of humour of Schwitters the poverty-stricken refugee: ‘…Dig for Victory/Prize beers/Sell us your waste paper/Rags and Metals/Any rags any bones any bottles today/The same old question in the same old way.’ London Symphony is followed by E.L.T. Mesens essay A Tribute to Kurt Schwitters (1958), a fond reminiscence of the artist whom Mesens first met in Paris in the mid nineteen-twenties. Mesens’ reminiscences and fund of memorable anecdotes furnish us with a colourful palette of Schwitters’ idiosyncrasies – his ingenuity, his miserliness, his matchless mastery of collage, his penchant for figurative painting, his dread of authority, his blithe disregard of convention – the latter exemplified by the amusing account of his spectacular performance in a Parisian café that appalled the waiters and ended in the management beseeching him to leave. It evidently seemed a reasonable step to follow this with Ernst Schwitters’ immediate response to Mesens’ essay. Ernst challenges a number of Mesens’ statements, refuting, for example, the contention that that his father’s portraits and landscapes were no more than money-spinners and vehemently denying that he was ‘happy as a lark’ in internment. It is Mesens’ acid reply that concludes this volume, leaving most readers baffled as to the rights and wrongs and indeed the relevance of all these heated arguments to the remainder of the book. But there is a goodly portion of Schwitterian logic here; he often leaves his readers completely in the dark as to the outcome of his stories, and at the close of one of the best known, Auguste Bolte, he abruptly dumps his heroine on a military training ground, arguing that his readers have no right to learn anything whatsoever from a work of art. GW

Stefan Themerson’s Kurt Schwitters in England: 1940 – 1948 (1958), was the first major English publication on Schwitters. Jasia Reichardt was Assistant Director at the ICA, London, from 1963 to 1971, and Director of the Whitechapel Gallery, London, from 1974 to 1976. For more on the Themerson Archive and its founders, see http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/wid/exhibits/gaberbocchus-press/archive.html For more on Tate Publishing see http://www.tate.org.uk/publishing/default.shtm

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KURT SCHWITTERS IS BROUGHT BACK TO NORWAY News from the Henie Onstad Art Centre in Bærum, near Oslo. Following the great interest in Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948) aroused by our exhibition in autumn 2009, the artist is now to be awarded the position he deserves in Norwegian art and art history by means of a major collaborative project between The Henie Onstad Art Centre, The Romsdal Museum and The Sparebank Foundation DnBNOR. This project is being arranged in the wake of the large-scale exhibition held at The Henie Onstad Art Centre in 2009/2010, which was the first major exhibition of Kurt Schwitters’ art ever shown in Norway. From this starting point, the following projects will now be put into motion: • The establishment of a permanent showroom and competence centre at The Henie Onstad Art Centre at Høvikodden. • The conservation of the remaining interior of the Merzbau construction at Hjertøya, with a view to exhibiting it at The Romsdal Museum in Molde, Norway. This project will also include a publication.

Conservation of Kurt Schwitters’ MERZBAU on the island of HjertøyaConservation of Kurt Schwitters’ MERZBAU on the island of HjertøyaConservation of Kurt Schwitters’ MERZBAU on the island of HjertøyaConservation of Kurt Schwitters’ MERZBAU on the island of Hjertøya

Kurt Schwitters and his family came to Hjertøya near the town of Molde for the first time in 1930, when they rented a little stone cottage on the island. Schwitters returned here in 1932, rented the same cottage and spent every summer here until 1939. During these years, he transformed the interior of the cottage into a work of art, a Merzbau, along the lines of the installations that he had created in Hanover and at Lysaker. But ever since Schwitters was forced to flee from Norway in 1940, the cottage has gradually decayed. As several interesting and valuable elements have survived, and as Schwitters’ three other Merzbau constructions in Hanover, Lysaker and England respectively have been lost, these “remains” are of great national and international interest and importance and will now be preserved for posterity. Conservation of the work of art in the cottage itself on Hjertøya would not be a viable alternative, so the interior will therefore be consolidated, conserved and moved to The Romsdal Museum, where it will be permanently exhibited in the museum’s new building, scheduled for completion in 2013. The cottage itself will remain on the island of Hjertøya, where a new information exhibition will be set up in the barn. A major publication about this project and Kurt Schwitters’ works will also be produced in this connection.

(photo: G.Webster)

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NEW PUBLICATIONS

December 2010 Marc Dachy, Dada & les dadaïsmes Édition revue et augmentée Le pluriel n’est pas ici une afféterie de style. Car Tristan Tzara, le fondateur de Dada à Zurich en 1916, n’est pas tout, n’est pas seul. La subversion poétique généralisée qu’il initie s’attaque résolument à toutes les disciplines de l’art institutionnalisé, refusant les compartimentages de l’ordre culturel établi. Les dadaïsmes, c’est l’offensive lancée en Suisse, en France, en Allemagne, dans les pays anglo-saxons et jusqu’au Japon même, sur tous les fronts pour repenser à neuf la poésie, le dessin, la peinture, la sculpture, l’architecture, la typographie, le collage, l’assemblage, la photographie, la cinématographie, le théâtre, la musique. Les dadaïsmes excèdent les années 1915-1923 auxquelles trop souvent on réduit Dada : du créationnisme à Fluxus en passant par le Nouveau Réalisme, la Beat Generation et les situationnistes, ils ont essaimé jusqu’ à nos jours dans les revendications de certains des plus grands artistes contemporains — comme le montre cet ouvrage de référence à nouveau disponible en une édition revue et augmentée.

Marc Dachy ISBN 978-2-07-043933-1

Videos

Jaap Blonk performs part of the Ursonate with realJaap Blonk performs part of the Ursonate with realJaap Blonk performs part of the Ursonate with realJaap Blonk performs part of the Ursonate with real----time typography time typography time typography time typography http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs0yapSIRmM TheTheTheThe UrsUrsUrsUrsonate performed byonate performed byonate performed byonate performed by Steven Schick and Shahrokh Yadegari Steven Schick and Shahrokh Yadegari Steven Schick and Shahrokh Yadegari Steven Schick and Shahrokh Yadegari http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7udZvZBawY Kurt Schwitters, An Anna BlumeKurt Schwitters, An Anna BlumeKurt Schwitters, An Anna BlumeKurt Schwitters, An Anna Blume http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N46YU_R8D2w Merz Jazz aus Schwitters' "Ursonate" Merz Jazz aus Schwitters' "Ursonate" Merz Jazz aus Schwitters' "Ursonate" Merz Jazz aus Schwitters' "Ursonate" ---- Einleitung und Zweiter Teil ©2009 Einleitung und Zweiter Teil ©2009 Einleitung und Zweiter Teil ©2009 Einleitung und Zweiter Teil ©2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44jRh_kybCI Dada Dada Dada Dada ---- Europe after the rain Europe after the rain Europe after the rain Europe after the rain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtwOrCuGJag&feature=related The ABCs of DADAThe ABCs of DADAThe ABCs of DADAThe ABCs of DADA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqkIJ0odFxA Sophie TaeuberSophie TaeuberSophie TaeuberSophie Taeuber----Arp RetrosArp RetrosArp RetrosArp Retrospective at Museo Picasso Malaga pective at Museo Picasso Malaga pective at Museo Picasso Malaga pective at Museo Picasso Malaga http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGr2MrPE85Q&feature=fvw

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TTTThe Kurt Schwitters Society UKKurt Schwitters Society UKKurt Schwitters Society UKKurt Schwitters Society UK (KSUK) was founded in mid-2010 in order to improve communication between those interested in the different aspects of the work of Kurt Schwitters. The society informs members on current research and publications relating to Schwitters and his circle and provides information on forthcoming events. The society publishes a newsletter and (from 2011) a journal containing scholarly articles on Schwitters and reviews of recent publications. An interactive website is also planned. From 2011From 2011From 2011From 2011the newsletter will only be the newsletter will only be the newsletter will only be the newsletter will only be available to members. available to members. available to members. available to members. Membership fee: £7.50 per annum, or £35 for five years. (Payment in Euros also possible.) IF YOU WISH TO JOIN IF YOU WISH TO JOIN IF YOU WISH TO JOIN IF YOU WISH TO JOIN THE SOCIETY, PLEASE THE SOCIETY, PLEASE THE SOCIETY, PLEASE THE SOCIETY, PLEASE CCCCONTACT ONTACT ONTACT ONTACT OUR OUR OUR OUR MEMBERSHIP SECRETARYMEMBERSHIP SECRETARYMEMBERSHIP SECRETARYMEMBERSHIP SECRETARY, , , , GIVING YOUR NAME, ADGIVING YOUR NAME, ADGIVING YOUR NAME, ADGIVING YOUR NAME, ADDDDDRESSRESSRESSRESS, E, E, E, E----MAIL AND A MAIL AND A MAIL AND A MAIL AND A TELEPHONE NUMBER: TELEPHONE NUMBER: TELEPHONE NUMBER: TELEPHONE NUMBER:

Stella Birchall, High Barn, Gressingham, Lancaster, LA2 8LP, UK, e-mail: [email protected], T: 0044 15242 21198

Account details: Kurt Schwitters Society UKKurt Schwitters Society UKKurt Schwitters Society UKKurt Schwitters Society UK NatWest, Lancaster University Sort code 01 04 92 Account number 35725702 GB87NWBK 010492 357 25702. IBAN BIC NWBKGB2L PPPPayments can also be made through ayments can also be made through ayments can also be made through ayments can also be made through Paypal at email Paypal at email Paypal at email Paypal at email [email protected]@[email protected]@me.com KKKKSUKSUKSUKSUK Founding President: Gwendolen Webster Membership Secretary: Stella Birchall Honorary Committee Members: Dr John Elderfield Professor Mel Gooding Dr Megan Luke Dr Karin Orchard Dr Isabel Schulz Professor Hamish Ritchie Dr Dorothea Dietrich

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