LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil, paper, card, canvas, metal and wool assemblage on cardboard in the artist's frame

Measurements:

7.24 in. (18.40 cm.) (height) by 8.46 in. (21.50 cm.) (width)

Markings:

signed, dated and inscribed 'K.Schwitters 1919 250 M.10 Merzbild 9A Bild mit Damestein' (on the reverse)

Exhibited:

Berlin, Galerie Der Sturm [Herwarth Walden], Kunstausstellung der Sturm, December 1919, no. 5. Hanover, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Kurt Schwitters, February - March 1956, no. 43; this exhibition later travelled to Bern, Kunsthalle, April - May 1956; Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, June 1956; Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, October - November 1956; and Liège, Musée des Beaux-Arts, November - December 1956. Dusseldorf, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Dada, September - October 1958, no. 474; this exhibition later travelled to Frankfurt, Karmeliterkloster, October - November 1958; and Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, December 1958 - February 1959. Venice, XXX Biennale Internazionale di Venezia, June - October 1960, no. 62. Stockholm, Konstsalongen Samlaren im Konstnärshuset, Kurt Schwitters, 1887-1948: Retrospektivt, 1962, no. 21; this exhibition later travelled to Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst und Kunstforeningen, November 1962; London, Marlborough Fine Art, March - April 1963, no. 28; Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz Museum und Kölnischer Kunstverein, October - November 1963, no. 20; Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, January - March 1964; and Rome, Marlborough Galleria d'Arte, April - May 1964, no. 15. Los Angeles, UCLA Art Galleries, Kurt Schwitters: Retrospective, March - April 1965, no. 20; this exhibition later travelled to New York, Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, May - June 1965; Kansas City, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, July - August 1965; and Toronto, Art Gallery of Toronto, September - October 1965. Dallas, Museum of Fine Arts, Kurt Schwitters: Retrospective, November - December 1965; this exhibition later travelled to San Francisco, Museum of Art, January - February 1966; and St Louis, City Art Museum, March - April 1966. Dusseldorf, Städtische Kunsthalle, Kurt Schwitters, January - March 1971, no. 18; this exhibition later travelled to Berlin, Akademie der Künste, March - April 1971; Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie, May - July 1971; Basel, Kunsthalle, July - September 1971; and Hamburg, Kunstverein, September - November 1971. London, Marlborough Fine Art, Merz: Kurt Schwitters, October 1972, no. 15 (illustrated); this exhibition later travelled to Zurich, November 1972 - January 1973; New York, Marlborough Gallery, February - March 1973; Rome, Marlborough Galleria d'Arte, September - November 1973; and Vienna, Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, December 1973. Madrid, Fundación Juan March, Kurt Schwitters, September - December 1982, no. 19; this exhibition later travelled to Barcelona, Fundació Joan Miró, December 1982. New York, Marlborough Gallery, Masters of the 19th and 20th Centuries, May - June 1983, no. 43 (illustrated). Karuizawa, The Museum of Modern Art, Seibu Takanawa, Kurt Schwitters, July - October 1983, no. 17 (illustrated); this exhibition later travelled to Tokyo, Seibu Museum of Art, October - November 1983. New York, Museum of Modern Art, Kurt Schwitters, June - October 1985, no. 47 (illustrated); this exhibition later travelled to London, Tate Gallery, November 1985 - January 1986; and Hanover, Sprengel Museum, February - April 1986.

Literature:

W. Schmalenbach, Kurt Schwitters, New York, 1967, p. 25 (illustrated). C. Giedion-Welcker, Schriften 1926-1971, Cologne, 1973, p. 13 (illustrated). J. Elderfield, Kurt Schwitters, London, 1987 (illustrated p. 46). K. Orchard & I. Schulz, eds., Kurt Schwitters, Catalogue raisonné, vol. I, 1905-1922, Hanover, 2000, no. 429, p. 215 (illustrated).

Provenance:

Ernst Schwitters, Lysaker, by descent from the artist in 1948. David Thomson, Toronto, by 1985. Marlborough Fine Art, London (no. 33921.1). Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, New York, 6 November 1991, lot 32. Galerie Jan Krugier, Ditesheim & Cie., Geneva (no. 5110), by 1999. Acquired from the above by the present owner.