Kurt Schwitters moved to Ambleside in 1945, after over a decade of enormous upheaval. Originally from Hanover, Germany, he had built an impressive artistic career that was then dismantled by Nazi persecution and war in Europe, but his time in the Lakes allowed him to continue his artistic practice.
From the 1910s to the 1930s, Schwitters built an extensive portfolio, spanning several disciplines – painting, sculpture, performance poetry and graphic design, to name a few. His most famous creations were his 'Merzbau' installations – drawn here by Dan Fischer – of which only two survive today.
The rise of the Nazi party in 1933, however, effectively destroyed Schwitters' social life and career over the next four years, forcing him to flee the country in 1937 and become a refugee with his son, Ernst. His wife Helma had to stay in Hanover to look after their elderly parents and remaining assets. Kurt and Ernst never saw her again.
When Schwitters first came to Britain, he did not receive a warm welcome. In June 1940, he arrived in Leith, Scotland and was declared an 'enemy alien'. He spent the next year and a half in various internment camps across Scotland, eventually being sent to the Hutchinson camp on the Isle of Man.
This final camp had become an accidental artists' colony, due to its unusually high population of sculptors, painters, engravers, writers, university professors and other intellectuals. Schwitters was in good company and continued creating art, even if the conditions in internment camps had worn away his health and well-being.
In November 1941, Alexander Dorner, of the Rhode Island School of Design, assisted in Schwitters' eventual release from internment, and he moved to London to be near Ernst and to make good on artistic contacts he had made in the Hutchinson Camp.
Despite assistance from friends, life in London was hard and he struggled to make a living, as British audiences were less familiar with abstract movements he had been part of in Europe, such as Dada and De Stijl. In 1943, his first Merzbau in Hanover was destroyed in Allied bombing, preserved only in photographs. Worse still, his wife Helma died of cancer in 1944 – although she died in October, Schwitters did not hear of her death until December.
There were still moments of joy, of course. Schwitters met his future companion, Edith Thomas, in London – his nickname for her was 'Wantee' since she always offered him cups of tea. The couple first visited the Lake District in 1942, returning in 1944 with Ernst and his fiancée. They enjoyed their time there, as the scenery reminded Schwitters of earlier family holidays in Norway.
On 26th June 1945, Schwitters and Wantee moved to 2 Gale Crescent, Ambleside. They had originally planned to move to Edinburgh in search of new opportunities, stopping in Ambleside en route. However, their love for the Lakes and need for a cheaper lifestyle led them to settle in the village instead.
As a German refugee in a rural Lakeland village, just after the Second World War, it must have been difficult for Schwitters to establish relationships in Ambleside. Nonetheless, he made firm friends and forged connections through his art. He painted many landscapes and portraits to earn money, repay debts and honour close friends while living in the village.
Dr George Ainslie Johnston was one of these close friends: Schwitters painted his portrait in 1946. Johnston practised medicine in Ambleside for over 50 years, and he was one of the original members of the Armitt Library at its inception in 1912, and a founder of the Ambleside Old Folks' 'Do' (AOF) to whom his portrait was given. The AOF had no permanent premises in which to keep the work and the portrait was offered to, and accepted by, the Armitt Trust in 1952, and this was recorded in the AOF committee minutes of 9th January 1952.
Old Folks' Do, Ambleside, 1938
Dr Johnston is on the front row, second from the left 
Schwitters had a lifelong history of illness, suffering from epilepsy as a young child, and during his time in Ambleside, his health rapidly declined. In late January 1946, Johnston tended Schwitters through a bout of influenza, which was quickly followed in February by a brain haemorrhage. This forced him and Wantee to move to 4 Millans Park in the village, as Schwitters could no longer navigate the steep ginnel that leads up to Gale Crescent.
Throughout his recovery Johnston visited regularly, playing chess with him for an hour or so each day, giving Wantee a chance to get some fresh air, while at the same time enabling the two men to establish a strong friendship.
Schwitters painted Johnston's portrait, one of the best known of his Ambleside works, in gratitude for the doctor having saved his life. In a letter to a friend, Schwitters wrote: 'I don't know whether to let him win – then he has a friendly expression, but people will think I'm a bad chess player – or shall I win, then his expression will be unfriendly and people will think I'm a bad painter…'
You can see Dr Johnston's portrait on display in our current exhibition 'The Armitt Explores… Kurt Schwitters', on until December 2024. Visit our website to find out more at armitt.com
Kathryn Twelvetree,
Prints of artworks in The Armitt's collection – including work by Kurt Schwitters – are available to buy on the Art UK Shop
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