↗France, late 19th century-early 20th century · c. 1915–26
Water Lilies (Agapanthus)
Claude Monet
ARTWORK STUDY
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Read the artwork notes and catalogue information.The Museum of Modern Art · Catalogue source ↗ · Image policy ↗
Germany · 1924
Merz Drawing
- Date
- 1924
- Medium
- Cut-and-pasted coloured and printed papers and button on paper
- Dimensions
- Not listed in the source consulted
- Country / context
- Germany
- Movement / tradition
- European and American art
- Collection
- The Museum of Modern Art
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Pathway
- European and American art ↗
ABOUT THIS WORK
Coloured paper, printed paper and a button make this a constructed surface as well as a drawing. Schwitters’s Merz practice brings existing materials into a new arrangement, making joins and differences of texture part of the work.
Original educational overview · based on the linked museum recordPlace in the artist’s career
Compare the 1920 collage, the 1923 lithograph and the 1924 Merz Drawing. Found paper brings pre-existing colour, text and texture; printing can translate a constructed rhythm into a repeatable image. Do not confuse a reproduced texture with a physical scrap attached to the sheet. This focused group does not illustrate his later exile works.
The artist’s practice
Artist-wide context; individual works may differ.
Media and surface
Found papers, printed fragments and small objects give collage an already lived material surface.
Marks and structure
Rectilinear arrangements and layered scraps turn discarded matter into deliberate composition.
Palette and light
Pre-existing colour, lettering and stains become compositional resources rather than neutral background.
A MOMENT TO LOOK
Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?
Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.
