Plan of Love

Kurt Schwitters German

Not on view

Following World War I, Schwitters, who was associated with the Dada movement, coined the term "Merz" to describe his enduring ambition to unify art and life. In this Merzbild, or Merz picture, Schwitters combined seemingly worthless debris—advertisements, newspaper scraps, diagrams—into an ordered composition set within a handmade frame. Close inspection of the collaged materials reveals maps, a listing for a doctor of venereal disease, and the German phrase that gives the work its title: "Plan der Liebe," or "Plan of Love."

Plan of Love, Kurt Schwitters (German, Hanover 1887–1948 Kendal), Cut and torn pasted papers, cellophane, tempera, nails, fabric, ink, and graphite, mounted on illustration and fiber boards, with artist-made wood frame

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