Poisoned Abstraction

A definitive resource, full of fresh insights and new revelations, on one of the most influential interwar artists This richly illustrated book offers a definitive new assessment of the oeuvre of Kurt Schwitters (18871948), a central figure of the interwar European avant-garde. Active as an artist, designer, publisher, performer, critic, poet, and playwright, Schwitters is best known for intimately scaled, materially rich collages and assemblages made from found objectsoften refusethat the artist described as having lost all contact with their role and history in the world at large. But as Graham Bader explores, such simple separation of art from life is precisely what Schwitterss poisoned abstraction calls into question. Considering works reaching from Schwitterss earliest collage-based pieces of 191819, through his 1920s advertising designs, to his seminal environmental installation the Merzbau, Bader carefully unpacks the meaning behind such projects and sheds new light on the tumultuous historical conditions in which they were made. In the process, he reveals a new Schwittersaesthetically committed and politically astutefor our time. This authoritative account reframes our understanding of Schwitterss multifaceted artistic practice and explores the complex entwinement of art, politics, and history in the modern period.