Picasso Museum hosts Kurt Schwitters exhibition

The Picasso Museum in Paris is hosting a major exhibition titled Kurt Schwitters. Le Chaos-Monde 1918-1948, which showcases over 300 works and documents from the career of German artist Kurt Schwitters. The exhibition is a collaboration with Hanover museums, known for their extensive collection of Schwitters’ work, similar to the Picasso Museum’s role for Pablo Picasso.

Exhibition highlights Schwitters’ artistic evolution

Kurt Schwitters, born in 1887 in Hanover, began his career with academic painting before moving toward expressionism and abstraction. He exhibited at the gallery Der Sturm, where he met artists like Picasso, Paul Klee, and Marc Chagall. His later works, especially after World War I, became more intense, featuring circular, repetitive, and obsessive visual patterns.

Schwitters’ use of kitsch and the Merz movement

One of the curators, Johan Popelard, emphasized Schwitters’ use of kitsch elements, which he used to critique consumer culture and advertising. Schwitters founded the Merz movement in 1919, which involved assembling found objects into cohesive compositions. This approach extended to poetry, architecture, and music, including his famous sound poem Ursonate, which Popelard called Schwitters’ most significant work.

Exhibition includes Ursonate and rare photographs

A dedicated room in the exhibition features Schwitters’ Ursonate, with onomatopoeic words displayed on the walls and a 1932 recording of Schwitters reciting the poem. The exhibition also includes a series of photographs taken by Schwitters’ son, Ernst, in 1944. These portraits show Schwitters’ face contorting in rhythm with spoken sounds, highlighting his connection to language and sound.

Schwitters’ exile and landscapes of Norway

In 1937, Schwitters fled Nazi Germany and lived in Norway until the end of World War II. During his time in exile, he created a series of landscapes capturing the natural beauty of the region. These photographs, organized into large albums, reflect a romantic view of nature that contrasts with his more experimental and radical artistic styles.