Kurt Schwitters

During his years of exile in Norway and England from 1937 onwards, Kurt Schwitters increasingly devoted himself to portrait and landscape painting. His open and outgoing nature made it easy for him to connect with a wide range of people. He sold paintings to tourists in Norway’s Molde area and found local residents who commissioned portraits. In letters to old and new acquaintances alike, he tried to place works and obtain portrait commissions. In a letter written in 1938, he wrote:

“Perhaps you know someone who would like a portrait painted in a naturalistic style; I can do that well and execute it faithfully, and if I had several portrait commissions, I would be able to finance my journey.”

This portrait by Schwitters depicts Mabel Elliott Taylor. There is even a black-and-white photograph showing the artist seated in front of the easel, wearing a white smock, with the almost completed portrait on display. To the right of the easel sits Mabel Elliott Taylor, a blanket over her legs. She is indeed wearing a striped blouse beneath a short-sleeved jacket. Whether the blouse was really as colourfully striped as it appears in the painting cannot be determined from the photograph. You can see this photograph as a projection in the exhibition. Schwitters painted Mabel Elliott Taylor in a completely naturalistic style. The colours are natural, and the sitter’s gaze is directed slightly to one side, as is often the case in Schwitters’ portraits. Here, the artist shows no interest in a modern mode of expression. Instead, he painted the portrait as a commissioned work, in order to earn money.