Walking in the footsteps of Kurt Schwitters with Anthony Padgett

About

An afternoon of reflective walking on the life and work of Kurt Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948), who spent the last few years of his life in Ambleside. He was a German artist who became famous for his poem Anna Blume, worked in several genres and media, including Dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design, typography, and what came to be known as installation art. He is most famous for his collages, called "Merz Pictures".

Starting at 12.30 pm from the Armitt Museum (which has on display original works by Schwitters), this guided walk will go to Schwitters' Ambleside homes, a couple of his favourite pubs and his gravestone. There will be stories of his time in Ambleside and a chance to discuss his work. On the walk, the guide will point out the general location of his studio and other landmarks and end back at the Armitt Museum to see some examples of his work and the bust of Schwitters. This bust was created by your guide, award-winning artist Anthony Padgett. Padgett's art practice looks at the history of art and literature. It includes spending a year being inspired to create artworks and texts around the lives of famous artists and poets. He then creates sculptures of those figures and sites internationally. His subjects include Schwitters, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Wilfred Owen and Humbert Wolfe.