Kurt Schwitters

Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948) was a German painter, who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters participated in the Dada movement during and after World War I. His particular contribution to that group was his Merz works, art pieces built up of found objects into large constructions or even what would later in the 20th century have been called 'installations'. The Sprengel Museum in Hanover has a reconstruction of the most famous of these installations called 'Merzbau' which was a redesign of Schwitters own appartement in Hanover. The Merzbau was destroyed in WW II.

He composed and performed a 'Ursymphonie' of which Brian Eno used parts in his song 'Kurt's rejoiner' on his album Before and After Science.

'Merz' - according to Schwitters was part of the name of the Commerzbank.

In 1937 he was included in the Nazi exhibition of 'degenerate art' (Entartete Kunst) at Munich. He died in England.