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Poisoned Abstraction

Kurt Schwitters between Revolution and Exile
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Poisoned Abstraction offers a definitive, richly illustrated exploration of Kurt Schwitters's diverse artistic endeavours, from his early collage pieces in 1918–19 to the iconic Merzbau. Author Graham Bader examines Schwitters's use of found materials, revealing how his assemblages challenge traditional art concepts and engage with the complex historical realities of the interwar period, presenting a politically aware artist whose work remains relevant today.
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Format: Hardback
$11399
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in modern art, avant-garde movements, and European cultural history, particularly those seeking an in-depth, scholarly yet accessible study of Kurt Schwitters and interwar artistic innovation.

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A definitive resource, full of fresh insights and new revelations, on one of the most influential interwar artists

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Poisoned Abstraction is 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 (1887–1948), 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 objects—often refuse—that the artist described as having lost all contact with their role and history in the world at large.

Considering works reaching from Schwitters’s earliest collage-based pieces of 1918–19, through his 1920s advertising designs, to his seminal environmental installation the Merzbau, Graham 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 Schwitters—aesthetically committed and politically astute—for our time. This authoritative account reframes our understanding of Schwitters’s multifaceted artistic practice and explores the complex entwinement of art, politics, and history in the modern period.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised for its elegant prose and thorough research, the book has been lauded as an "exceptional example of complex academic research" by Burlington Magazine. London Review of Books highlights Bader's insightful interpretation of Schwitters's use of refuse as a powerful aesthetic response to post-war ruins, capturing the essential tensions within his work. The volume is also noted for its excellent analysis and lavish illustrations, shedding light on Schwitters as a pioneering modern artist.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780300257083

Publisher: Yale University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 23 November 2021

Country: United States

Imprint: Yale University Press

Illustration: 90 color + 40 b-w illus.

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 241.0mm

Height: 279.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 240

About the Author

Graham Bader is associate professor and chair of art history at Rice University.

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