Schwitters

Schwitters is a German-language surname. The name is most commonly associated with Kurt Schwitters (1887–1948), a German artist and poet whose work linked Dada experimentation with later 20th-century avant-garde practices. In art history, Schwitters is best known for developing the Merz concept, a practice of collage and assemblage that incorporated found objects, text, and everyday debris to create cohesive works.

Kurt Schwitters produced a wide range of pieces, including paintings, collages, sculptures, and sound poetry. He published the periodical Merz to showcase his ideas and works, and he is also celebrated for the Merzbau, a series of large-scale installation environments created inside his residences. Although his career intersected with Dada and other movements of the interwar period, Schwitters pursued a distinctive approach centered on transforming discarded materials into complex, symbolic constructions.

Schwitters faced persecution by the Nazi regime and left Germany in 1937. He spent his remaining years in exile, living in Norway and later Britain, where he continued to create despite deteriorating health. His experiments with materiality and form influenced later artists working in collage, assemblage, and multimedia practices, cementing his place as a transitional figure between early 20th-century avant-garde movements and postwar art.

Beyond Kurt Schwitters, the surname Schwitters remains a German-language family name, carried by individuals and families not directly connected to the artist.