Date of Award
9-2025
Access Control
Open Access
Degree Name
Conservation of Art and Cultural Heritage and Conservation Science and Imaging , M.A./M.S.
Department
Art Conservation Department
Advisor
Theresa J. Smith
Advisor
Jiuan Jiuan Chen
Department Home page
https://artconservation.buffalostate.edu/
Abstract
Difficult, is a 1942-1943 collage by Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948) held in the collection of the Buffalo AKG. This piece is an exemplar of Schwitters’s chief contribution to the canon of art history, his concept of merz, the nonsense word he coined as an all-encompassing thesis for his practice. In a characteristic gesture of lifting found materials to the status of Artist’s Materials, Difficult utilizes candy wrappers, bus tickets, letters, advertisements, newspaper and magazine clippings, an etching, and much more. These items are made of a variety of materials including various types of coated and uncoated papers, cellophane, and leather.
This piece was offered to Buffalo State as a treatment project out of concern for splitting in some collage elements and an overall dirty appearance. Examination further revealed flaking and instability in a coating applied over some elements of the collage and that the current framing package is inadequate to properly support the piece.
Research into Schwitters’s biography, working methods, materials and conservation literature informed the extent of treatment which dramatically changed over the course of the project.
Recommended Citation
Cabral, Elise, "Difficult: Artist Intention, Materiality, and the Treatment of a Kurt Schwitters Collage" (2025). Art Conservation Master's Projects. 99.
https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/art_con_projects/99
Archival Statement
This material is part of a digital archival collection. This item was created or digitized prior to April 24, 2026, or is a reproduction of physical media created before that date. It is preserved specifically for research, reference, or historical recordkeeping. In accordance with the ADA Title II regulations, Butler Library provides accessible versions of archival materials upon request for affiliated faculty, staff, and students. To request an accommodation for this item, please submit a remediation request form.
