Mz 30,39

The German artist Kurt Schwitters collected all manner of materials: entrance tickets, newspaper cuttings, tram and bus tickets, scraps of paper, cigarette and chocolate wrappers. His friends also contributed to his collection. Schwitters packed all his materials into suitcases that accompanied him on his travels, so he could make collages wherever he went. For this collage, he cut out the word ‘Mauxio’ from a Mauxion chocolate wrapper. Schwitters is considered one of the most significant avant-garde artists of the first decade of the 20th century. He maintained close contact with Dada artists such as Hans Arp and Raoul Hausmann. In 1923 he even took part in a Dadaist tour of the Netherlands along with Theo van Doesburg and Vilmos Huszár. In 1937 Schwitters and his son fled to Norway. Two years later they immigrated to England, seeking refuge from the Nazi regime which considered him a ‘decadent’ artist.