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Dimensions: 65 by 55cm., 25 5/8 by 21 5/8 in.
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Provenance: Ernst Schwitters, Lysaker (1948-59; inherited from the artist)
Galerie Beyeler, Basel (1959-61)
Sale: Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Norbert Ketterer, Stuttgart, May 1960, lot 595
Sale: Brera Galleria d'Arte, Mailand, November 1961, lot 231
Sale: Ketterer Kunst, Munich, May 1995, lot 72
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Exhibited: London, Lord's Gallery, Kurt Schwitters, 1958, no. 10
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Literature: Karin Orchard and Isabel Schulz, Kurt Schwitters Catalogue raisonné, 1923-1936, Hanover, 2003, vol. II, no. 1781, illustrated p. 362
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Notes: In his earlier years Schwitters had refused sentimentality and emotion to influence his art. With each visit to Norway, beginning in 1929, he slowly allowed nature to form a profound stylistic influence. The beautiful, pastoral life and landscapes of Norway aroused emotions in him that had not been seen during his Constructivist period, and nature soon became the backdrop for many of his works. During 1931 and 1937, he blended his Constructivist and Purist styles to create Ohne Titel (Bild Mit Kreis und Sichel). Whilst geometrically abstract in appearance Ohne Titel's composition is that of the landscape of Norway at night, showing a crescent moon emitting light onto the dark countryside. This had rarely been seen in his works before and one can imagine a wintry night in Norway from the natural blend of colours and the deep, dark tones.
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