Country House Collection

Cv/VAR 156 presents a study by Anne Blood of the pioneering artist Kurt Schwitters (b. June 20, 1887, Hannover, d. January 8, 1948 Kendal) which reviews the exhibition Kurt Schwitters in Britain at Tate Britain, January to May 2013. The author focuses on the 'Merzbarn', a late work created in a barn at Elterwater, Cumbria in 1947, made in the last year of his life. The 'Merzbarn' is a complex internal sculpture integrated into the building used by permission of the owner Harry Pierce, who had commissioned a portrait by the artist. The unfinished but eloquent work proved to be a forerunner of modern pathways of art and installation, and added to Schwitters' seminal influence on future artists.