Born in Hanover in 1887, deceased in England in 1948.
Kurt Schwitters is a german painter and poet. He embodied the individualist and anarchist spirit of Dada, of whom he was one of the principal group leaders in Hanover. Concurrent to this activity, Schwitters created a movement that he called "Merz".
Schwitters influenced greatly american neo-dadaists, especially Robert Rauschenberg, who used his ideas of the "combine-paintings" and his collages.
From 1920 to 1923, in his house in Hanover, Schwitters built a vast structure made of white plaster volumes, the Schwitters-Säule (column Schwitters), in which were placed, inside cavities, his works and his friends' works.
Between 1930 and 1945, Schwitters lived essentially in Norway. His works were removed from German Museums, but 4 were presented in the "Degenerate Art exhibition" in Munich. After the Norway invasion by Nazis, Schwitters moved to England in 1946, where he constructed a new projet, the Merzbarn (barn Merz).
Schwitters, during his whole life, operated and broadcasted the main ideas of a chance and wastes art. He is now one of the more advanced artists of the XXth century.