Anna Blume: Dichtungen (Die Silbergäule, vol. 39/40)
Kurt Schwitters
German, 1887–1948
1919
An illustrated book with a lithographed cover by Kurt Schwitters (1919) in which he turns a poetry pamphlet into a biting Dada collage, using hand-drawn calligraphy, mechanical sketches, and bold red letters to upend conventional book design.
At first glance the tan cover feels improvised and kinetic—loose black-ink handwriting and spiky machine-like doodles collide with a diagonal string of stenciled red “dada” letters, making reading both playful and slightly disorienting.
The work is an early, influential instance of Dada’s attack on typography and artistic authorship, helping to forge the crossover of text and image that fed later experiments in collage, concrete poetry, and modern graphic design.
Medium
Book with lithographed cover
Dimensions
page (including flyleaves): 8 5/8 x 5 11/16" (21.9 x 14.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Given anonymously
Accession
30.1975
Palette
Exhibitions
