Kurt Schwitters

“While walking alone in the Bohemian Switzerland, in winter, I perceived the eternal laws of nature. I realised that only a total grasp of these laws could constitute art.”

This statement by Kurt Schwitters makes clear that his engagement with nature ran deeper than his naturalistic landscape paintings. The abstract works created during his time in England in the early 1940s, as well as his small-scale sculptures, provide the clearest evidence of this. At the same time, they are among the less widely recognised works in Schwitters’ oeuvre. As early as 1910, in a text entitled The Problem of Abstract Art, the artist wrote:

“I consider reflection on abstract art to be very worthwhile; but it must not exert a determining influence on art. Nature must always lead, not overthinking.”

In this painting from 1941/42, Schwitters worked exclusively with organic abstract forms – rounded, oval or curved in shape. The forms are interlocked and combined into a single structure. They flow into one another, making them appear animated and in motion. The image resembles a cross-section through a bodily organ. The colours are varied, in places vividly so, while the background is rendered in sombre, dark tones.

Works like the one shown here testify to Schwitters’ engagement with Hans Arp. The simple, organic, nature-like forms that characterise Arp’s work proved a source of inspiration for Schwitters. Schwitters is likely to have met Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp as early as 1918. Later, Schwitters would describe Hans Arp as the only true artist. Both moved in very different artistic circles, ranging from the Dadaists to groups devoted to abstract art.