Kurt Schwitters

The figure portrayed in this coloured pencil drawing is Ernst Schwitters, the son of Kurt Schwitters. Schwitters outlined him in quick, confident lines, shown in profile. He used coarse hatching to render areas of shadow, lending the portrait a sense of volume. His use of the line varied – from fine lines and delicate hatching in the face to thick, dark strokes in the hair and the shadowed areas of the shoulder. The drawing demonstrates Schwitters’ skill in rapidly capturing facial features, and his ability as a portraitist more generally. 

The portrait was created in 1941, most likely while both father and son were interned on the Isle of Man. 

The sitter, Ernst Schwitters, was born in 1918. He was given his first camera at the age of nine. After completing his schooling, he worked as a photographer and took part in international exhibitions with his photographs. His work was influenced by the photography movement New Vision. From 1930 he lived intermittently in Norway, at times together with his parents. In 1934, he joined the Socialist Workers’ Youth, a resistance group opposed to National Socialism. Two years later, the group was dissolved by the police. Ernst Schwitters now faced the threat of arrest and fled to Norway at the end of 1936. His father followed shortly afterwards. They remained in Norway together until the invasion by the Wehrmacht in 1940. Once again, both were forced to flee, eventually arriving in England. After the Second World War, Ernst Schwitters worked primarily as an industrial photographer. He was an important witness to the life and work of his father and died in 1998.