126 THE ELOQUENCE OF WASTE· by Karin Orchard Exhibition catalogue for <strong>Kurt</strong> <strong>Schwitters</strong> at The Pinacotheca, New York, January-February 1948 (front cover, text by Naum Gabo) © Tate, London <strong>2016</strong>
exhibition in the Pinacotheca Gallery in New York also became, by force of circumstances, a memorial exhibition, since it opened on 19 January 1948 shortly after the death of the artist. This exhibition had also been planned during <strong>Schwitters</strong>’ lifetime and he had partly selected the works himself. Once again, it was Katherine S. Dreier who had introduced the gallerist Rose Fried to the work of the German <strong>Merz</strong> artist and who also supported the exhibition by lending works. <strong>Schwitters</strong> and Rose Fried had enjoyed a lively correspondance since late 1946 and were both enthused by their shared plans for an exhibition. In order to set this exhibition apart from the Collage exhibition which was scheduled to take place at the same time in MoMA, <strong>Schwitters</strong> suggested showing <strong>Merz</strong> pictures and sculptures as well as collages. 12 In the end the exhibition contained collages and constructions, mainly from 1946/47, with 26 entries in the catalogue. Even before the exhibition had opened Rose Fried was already able to sell works, with the result that she asked <strong>Schwitters</strong> and Katherine S. Dreier to send more works. 13 From a commercial point of view the exhibition turned out to be a disaster, because while it was running only another two works were sold. But over time the situation changed and in October 1948 Rose Fried wrote to the artist’s son, Ernst <strong>Schwitters</strong>, asking for more works, since “there is growing interest in them and I would like to put on an exhibition again this year, if possible”. 14 The opening of a second one-man show with the title Small Group of Collages by <strong>Kurt</strong> <strong>Schwitters</strong> was, however, delayed until 1953. In 1954 and 1956 Rose Fried showed his work in group shows, amongst others in her important International Collage Exhibition, which took place in spring 1956, and with eighty-five selected works traced the development of collage from the beginnings of Modernism right up to contemporary works by artists such as Robert Motherwell, Lee Krasner and Anne Ryan, to name just a few of the American participants. During the war and in the immediate postwar period, the reception of <strong>Kurt</strong> <strong>Schwitters</strong>’ art reached one of its early highpoints. New York became a focal point for the avantgarde in art, and the <strong>Merz</strong> artist played an important part in this as an inspiration and role-model. His increasing renown coincided with the emergence of an independent art scene and new artistic tendencies in the USA, the so-called New York School, Abstract Expressionism and Neo-Dada. There was even a suggestion that the new movement should be called Neo-<strong>Merz</strong> instead of Neo-Dada. 15 Robert Motherwell is regarded as one of the leading exponents of Abstract Expressionism. His early works had been included alongside <strong>Schwitters</strong>’ works in the aforementioned exhibition Collage in MoMA in 1948, as well as in the collage exhibition that Rose Fried put on in her gallery in 1956. However, the exhibition which had originally sparked off his interest in this medium had taken place much earlier. In 1942, Motherwell had met the American collector 12 Letter from <strong>Kurt</strong> <strong>Schwitters</strong> to Rose Fried, 25 January 1947, Archives of American Art, Rose Fried Gallery Papers, microfilm no. 2206. 13 Letter from Rose Fried to <strong>Kurt</strong> <strong>Schwitters</strong>, 27 May 1947, <strong>Kurt</strong> <strong>Schwitters</strong> Archive in the Sprengel Museum Hannover. Amongst other things she sold a collage to a “young artist”, see letter from Rose Fried to Katherine S. Dreier, 25 March 1947, Yale University, The Beinicke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven, Box 29, Folder 838. Unfortunately it is not possible to say who this artist might have been. 14 Letter from Rose Fried to Ernst <strong>Schwitters</strong>, 31 October 1948, <strong>Kurt</strong> <strong>Schwitters</strong> Archive in the Sprengel Museum Hannover. 15 Irving Sandler, ‘Ash can revisited’, in: Art International IV, no. 8, 1060, p. 29, as quoted in: Maria Müller, Aspekte der Dada-Rezeption, 1950–1966, Essen 1987, p. 86. 127
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