Kurt Schwitters: Merz (2016) – Norman Rosenthal interviews Damien Hirst

the Merzbau in Waldhausenstraße 5 in Hanover Cathedral of Erotic Misery. Among the numerous caves and
grottoes there were two that Hannah Höch was able to set up herself, namely: the Goethe Grotto and the Brothel
with a Lady with Three Legs were her own work, surely a proof of special appreciation. One cave was dedicated
to his wife, Helma, an admirable person without whose understanding and patience Schwitters would never have
been able to cope with his career that brought him into the foremost rank of artists of his generation. Picasso
and Matisse, Beckmann and Kokoschka continually chose their own women and others for motifs for their work.
Because of Schwitters’ different method of working, this is not so obvious with him, but as an undercurrent, the
erotic or friendly energies can always be discerned. Thus Schwitters created not only a cosmos of works called
Merz, but also a cosmos of people who gave him a hold and closeness in his restlessness.
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Epilogue
It has often been reported how persistently Schwitters insisted on exchanging works with friends. A
consequence of this were the many dedications that can be found handwritten on the lower edge of the works.
A further result was the Merz collection. Today 54 works can still be documented, frequently from artists
who are today famous. A series of works vanished in the Merzbau, being burnt along with it. The group of
works must therefore originally have been much more extensive. As a ‘private museum’, the Merz collection
mirrored Schwitters’ biography, at the same time including a significant selection from the creative work of
modern artists. From this angle, the Merzbau can also be regarded as an artists’ museum, complemented by
such works which Schwitters otherwise kept with him.
Photograph of Käte Steinitz, Theo van Doesburg, Kurt Schwitters, and Nelly van Doesburg, 1930s
© Tate, London 2015