2. Schwitters’s Ink: Picturing Words in the 1920s

Bader, Graham

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2. Schwitters’s Ink: Picturing Words in the 1920s

Graham Bader

Poisoned Abstraction: Kurt Schwitters between Revolution and Exile

Arguably no element was more central to Merz than language. From the infinitely varied textual scraps filling his collages, to the semantic gymnastics...

Author

Graham Bader

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.75-119

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00317.3

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22634

Chapter subject tags:Schwitters, Kurt, 1887-1948Advertising layout and typographyCollage, German

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List of illustrations

Mz. 410 (Something or Other) (Mz. 410 [Irgendsowas]) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1922
Brochure for Celle People’s Furniture (Celler Volks-Möbel), Hannover by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
c. 1929
Drawing A6 (Zeichnung A6), detail by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1918
Merzz. 96 Standing Yellow (Merzz. 96 stehen Gelb) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1920
Mz 316 ische gelb (Mz 316 ische Yellow) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 11
1921
Untitled (itter) (Ohne titel [itter]) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1923
After the Marne, Joffre Visited the Front by Auto (Apres la Marne, Joffre visita le front en auto) by Marinetti, Filippo Tommaso
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1919
The Architect's Table by Picasso, Pablo
By John Carlson
on Feb 15
1912
Untitled by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
c. 1922
This is Friedel Vordemberge's Wire Spring (Dieser Ist Friedel Vordemberges Drahtfrühling) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1927
This is Friedel Vordemberge's Wire Spring (Dieser Ist Friedel Vordemberges Drahtfrühling), detail by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1927
Mz. 26, 33 Görlitz by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1926
Kynast-Fest by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1919
Cover of Merz 11 (Advertising Typography/Pelikan Issue [Typoreklame/Pelikan-Nummer]) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1924
Cover of Merz 11 (Advertising Typography/Pelikan Issue [Typoreklame/Pelikan-Nummer]), detail by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1924
Central spread of Merz 11 (Advertising Typography/Pelikan Issue [Typoreklame/Pelikan-Nummer]) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1924
Opening page of Typographische Mitteilungen by Unknown
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1925
Pelikan Tinte by Lissitzky, El
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1924
Pelikan Tinte, Schreibband, Kohlenpapier (advertising maquette for Pelikan ink, typewriter ribbon, and carbon paper) by Lissitzky, El
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1924
Pelikan-Tinte (advertisement for Pelikan ink) by Suchodolski, Siegmund von
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1909
Interior page of Merz 11 (Typoreklame/Pelikan-Nummer) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1924
Final spread of Merz 11 (Typoreklame/Pelikan-Nummer) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1924
Central spread of Merz 11 (Typoreklame/Pelikan-Nummer), detail by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1924
Final page of Abstrakte Malerei und Typographie by Leonhardt, H. H.
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1925
Untitled (Pelikan Wagner) (Ohne Titel [Pelikan Wagner]) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1925
Untitled (WAGNER AND VIENNA) (Ohne Titel [WAGNER UND WIEN]) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1925
Untitled (Speckgumm) (Ohne Titel [Speckgumm]) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1925
Buchheister’s Skyy-scraper Hanover (Buchheisters Wollkenkratzer Hannover) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1926
Untitled (Mz ELIKAN ELIKAN ELIKAN) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
c. 1925
Untitled (Mz ELIKAN ELIKAN ELIKAN), detail by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
c. 1925
Pelikan-Tinte (advertisement for Pelikan ink), detail by Suchodolski, Siegmund von
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1909
Page from Merz 14/15, The Scarecrow (Die Scheuche) by Schwitters, Kurt; Steinitz, Kate Traumann; Doesburg, Theo van
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1925
Diagram of the Systemschrift (systematic script) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1928
Poster for the exhibition Dammerstock Housing Estate: The Functional Dwelling (Dammerstock-Siedlung: Die Gebrauchswohnung) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1929
Notice for the Hanover transit authority Üstra (Überlandwerke und Straßenbahnen Hannover AG) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1929
This is Friedel Vordemberge's Wire Spring (Dieser Ist Friedel Vordemberges Drahtfrühling), detail by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1927
Letterhead design for the Hanover municipal gardens office (Städtische Gartendirektion) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1929
Merz Werbe letterhead (Letter to Piet Zwart from Schwitters) by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
c. 1927
29/9 by Schwitters, Kurt
By John Carlson
on Jul 19
1929

2. Schwitters’s Ink: Picturing Words in the 1920s

Poisoned Abstraction: Kurt Schwitters between Revolution and Exile

Graham Bader

Publisher: Yale University Press

Print publication date: Nov, 2021

Subject areasArt History and TheoryDesign and Graphic DesignPhotography and FilmModern and ContemporaryGerman

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- Poisoned Abstraction: Kurt Schwitters between Revolution and Exile
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Schwitters’s Gift
- 1. Revolutionary Aesthetics: The Invention of Merz, 1918–19
- 2. Schwitters’s Ink: Picturing Words in the 1920s
- 3. Photographic Memory: The Merzbau
- 4. Merz Away from Home: Schwitters’s Exilic Imagination
- Conclusion: Precarious
- Index
- Photo Credits