Collins2018.Pdf

This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Envisaging Alternatives: Representations of Women in Kurt Schwitters’ Collages Cole Collins Doctor of Philosophy The University of Edinburgh 2018 Abstract of Thesis See the Postgraduate Assessment Regulations for Research Degrees: https://www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files/pgr_assessmentregulations.pdf Name of student: Cole Collins UUN S1467136 University email: [email protected] Degree sought: PhD History of Art No. of words in the 90,012 main text of thesis: Title of thesis: Envisaging Alternatives: Representations of Women in Kurt Schwitters’ Collages Insert the abstract text here - the space will expand as you type. In the existing literature on Kurt Schwitters, many excellent discoveries about process, materiality, and his life have been made. The careful reconstruction of these narratives by scholars such as Werner Schmalenbach, John Elderfield, Isabel Schulz, Gwendolen Webster, Marc Dachy, Roger Cardinal, Karin Orchard and Megan Luke, have given invaluable insights into the ways in which Schwitters’ work has influenced and been integral to the development of the various avant-garde movements of the twentieth century. However, while these studies have laid the foundations to examine the biographical and aesthetic qualities of Schwitters’ work, it has often denied readings that allow for an understanding of the political aspects which confront the viewer. Schwitters was the creator of Merz, a hybrid art form which borrowed from Expressionism, Dada, and Constructivism, but was never singularly committed to any of these movements/groups. Schwitters had had too much training to be a serious Expressionist, the movement denied academic and formal training, too bourgeois and not political enough for Dadaism, and not abstract or ‘clean’ enough to be considered a Constructivist. Merz was his and only his to be practiced and led him to be included in exhibitions of Dadaist, Constructivist and Surrealist artworks. His hybrid aesthetic, coupled with his own illusive remarks about his own practice, have produced readings of Schwitters’ work as only concerned with aesthetics; in some cases entirely ignoring the implications and connotations of the compositions themselves and the meanings behind the fragments used in his works. The idea often floated is that once the fragment has been detached from its original form, it no longer holds its original meaning. However, my thesis seeks to argue that this is entirely untrue and that contemporary audiences would have been unable to ignore these connections. As such, the collage takes on new meanings and we, the audience, must examine these connotations. My thesis argues for a political reading of the works which feature women. Images of women, taken from fashion magazines and clothing catalogs, are cut up and re-arranged in Schwitters’ abstract and hectic compositions. He then pairs these images with fragments of text, images of animals, or in odd compositions which causes a significant shift in perspective for the viewer. In most cases, these pairings are paradoxical or presented so Document control If you require this document in an alternative format please Date last reviewed: email [email protected] or telephone 0131 651 15.05.15 4990. K:\AAPS\D-AcademicAdministration\02-CodesOfPractice,Guidelines&Regulations\24-MainReferencesCopiesPolicies\01- Current\Assessment BOE SCC & Feedback\Forms\ThesisAbstract Abstract of Thesis that the two components juxtapose one another. My thesis argues that these works might be discussed in the context of the social and political goings on in the world in which Schwitters creates his artworks. This approach to his work has heretofore remained unexplored and as I show in my research by examining these images, new and revealing details about the artist’s work are uncovered. Document control If you require this document in an alternative format please Date last reviewed: email [email protected] or telephone 0131 651 15.05.15 4990. K:\AAPS\D-AcademicAdministration\02-CodesOfPractice,Guidelines&Regulations\24-MainReferencesCopiesPolicies\01- Current\Assessment BOE SCC & Feedback\Forms\ThesisAbstract Lay Summary of Thesis The lay summary is a brief summary intended to facilitate knowledge transfer and enhance accessibility, therefore the language used should be non-technical and suitable for a general audience. (See the Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study, General Postgraduate Degree Programme Regulations. These regulations are available via: www.drps.ed.ac.uk.) Name of student: Cole Collins UUN S1467136 University email: [email protected] Degree sought: PhD History of Art No. of words in the 90020 main text of thesis: Title of thesis: Envisaging Alternatives: Representations of Women in Kurt Schwitters’ Collages Insert the lay summary text here - the space will expand as you type. The work of German artist Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948) has often been examined through his use of found materials and in the broader context of collage as an art form, in most cases ignoring the political intent to be found in these fragments. My thesis examines this political intent and specifically focuses on his representation of women, proposing that the works can be understood as feminist. I discuss this through an analysis of his famous collage poem, ‘An Anna Blume’ (1919); his collages featuring women, works that were made in his hometown of Hannover; those collages made while in exile (1939-1948). In each case I explore the political and social environments in which he created his body of work, with a focus on the prevailing women’s movements as context in those particular periods. In the final chapter, I consider his large installation-like collage, his Merzbauten (Merz-constructions), which he made in Hannover, Lysaker and Hjertøya (in Norway), the first of which was installed in his family home. I make a comparison with the German conceptual artist Anna Oppermann’s large-scale installations, which she called Ensembles, and in this way discuss his Merzbau as a manipulation of the traditional domestic space, analysing this using feminist and queer theories. Document control K:\AAPS\D-AcademicAdministration\02-CodesOfPractice,Guidelines&Regulations\24-MainReferencesCopiesPolicies\01- Current\Assessment BOE SCC & Feedback\Forms\ThesisLaySummary If you require this document in an alternative format please Date last reviewed: email [email protected] or telephone 0131 651 31.05.16 4990. CONTENTS Acknowledgements List of Illustrations 1 Introduction 3 1 Collage: Form, Feminism and Femininity 32 Women and men in Dada discourses 36 Schwitters the political artist 40 The New Woman, Ersatzkultur and the collage 50 Queering Collage: re-assembling identities 64 2 ‘Who on earth is this Anna Blume?’: Anna Blume, Identity and Feminism 74 Manifestations of Anna Blume 75 Anna Blume: love, sex and autonomy 79 Anna Blume and the New Woman 82 Anna Blume and queer politics: language and sexuality 86 Schwitters’ alter-ego 92 3 Kurt Schwitters, Women and Hannover 98 Schwitters’ women in the context of Hannover 99 Forming Merz and the female body 105 Schwitters’ ‘othered’ women 112 Schwitters and youthfulness 119 4 Schwitters’ Women in Exile: Norway and Britain 135 Schwitters and landscape painting 136 Schwitters and ‘degenerate’ art 139 Schwitters and portraiture 145 Schwitters in Britain 158 Schwitters and Pop Art 167 5 ‘The basic differences predominate’: Legacies in Anna Oppermann’s Ensembles 173 Legacies: Schwitters, Johns, Rauschenberg 173 Domesticity 177 Schwitters and Oppermann: Disentangling legacies 179 Anna Oppermann: a brief introduction 186 Schwitters, Oppermann and the Madonna 191 Merzbauten and Ensembles 200 Alternatives Envisaged: A Conclusion/Reflection 210 Bibliography 224 Illustrations 238 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writing, revising and submission of this thesis would not have been possible without the generous support of a great number of people. My initial thanks go to my excellent supervisors, Christian Weikop and Fiona Anderson. Their guidance in navigating the PhD and writing process have made the past four years a less stressful experience. They were continually challenging me to think and re-think the ways in which the thesis might take shape, always pushing me toward the best version of my work. I am also thankful for their friendship and their understanding throughout the process, which has not always been easy. I extend my thanks to the Schwitters community who have served as a tireless resource of advice and support for my project. Gwendolen Webster, Schwitters’ biographer and President of the Kurt Schwitters Society, has always been on-hand to offer advice and has made innumerable suggestions

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