Plan of Love
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."
Artwork Details
- Title: Plan of Love
- Artist: Kurt Schwitters (German, Hanover 1887–1948 Kendal)
- Date: 1919 and 1923
- Medium: Collage of cut and torn papers, cellophane, opaque matte paint, and torn fabric with nails, black ink, and graphite mounted on illustration and paper boards, in artist's frame
- Dimensions: 17 × 13 in. (43.2 × 33 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2006
- Object Number: 2006.32.57
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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Multiple artists/makers
1921
Kurt Schwitters
1923
Kurt Schwitters
1947
Kurt Schwitters
1947
Kurt Schwitters
1947
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