Galerie Der Sturm, Berlin (until 1921)
Ritto Trippi, Switzerland (until 1969)
Galerie Beyeler, Basel, 1969 (acquired from the above)
Ernst Schwitters, Lysaker & Marlborough Fine Art, London (from 1969 to 1985)
Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1985
Acquired from the above by Dr. Arthur Brandt on June 12, 1985

Berlin, Galerie Der Sturm, Der Sturm. 96. Austellung. Kurt Schwitters. Merzbilder, Merzzeichnungen. Gesamtschau, 1921, no. 40
London, Marlborough Fine Art (& travelling in Switzerland, United States, Italy and Austria), Kurt Schwitters, 1972-73, no. 20, illustrated in the catalogue p. 44
Rome, Marlborough Galleria d'Arte, L'Esperienza moderna 1957-1959, 1976
New York, Marlborough Gallery, Kurt Schwitters, 1985, illustrated in the catalogue
New York, Ubu Gallery, Kurt Schwitters 1887-1948, Collages, Paintings, Drawings, Objects, Ephemera, 2003 (possibly)
Basel, Museum Tinguely, Kurt Schwitters, Merz-ein Gesamtweltbild, 2004
Boone, Turchin Center for the Arts, The Omnipotent Dream: Man Ray, Confluences and Influences, 2003, listed in the catalogue p. 37
Ithaca, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, A Private Eye: Dada, Surrealism and More from the Brandt Collection, 2006, illustrated in the catalogue p. 128

Karin Orchard & Isabel Schulz (ed.), Kurt Schwitters, Catalogue raisonné 1905-22, Hanover, 2000, no. 699, illustrated p. 344

It has been impossible to fully unframe the work. All collage elements seems entirely stable. The artist's mount is slightly time-stained and there are two small spots of foxing towards the lower edge. There are some handling marks visible around the edges of the mount. This work appears to be in very good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"Merz Pictures are abstract works of art. The word Merz essentially means the totality of all imaginable materials that can be used for artistic purposes and technically the principle that all of these individual materials have equal value. The artist creates by choosing, distributing and reshaping the materials. The materials are broken down as soon as they are laid on the surface. This is enhanced by fragmenting, twisting, overlapping and retouching them. Merz art strives for immediate expression by shortening the path from intuition to visual manifestation of the artwork". In 1919, this is how Schwitters defined Merz, the movement that he single-handedly invented, christened and comprised, so much so that he was its only member. Schwitters produced expressionist, and cubist works and poems inspired by the German romantic tradition before arriving in Berlin and befriending Herwarth Walden, the director of the Der Sturm revue. In 1918, the same year, at the Café des Westens frequented by Max Ernst, Raoul Hausmann and Hannah Höch, Schwitters asked to become a part of the Dada Club. The refusal of certain members did little to hamper the phenomenal energy of an artist who, in reverse of the Dadaist call for a tabula rasa of society's values, drew from this same society in order to extract new and nobler ones.  Renewal must come from an art that brings together the broken down, the crumbled apart. The artistic expression of this act of extraction and revelation of which Schwitters was to be the only herald and hero took, from the beginning, the form of collage composed of forgotten or discarded objects. In 1919, the baptism took place in an arbitrary fashion: the fragment of a word, between Kommerz and Privatbank, appeared out of an assemblage. Merz came to designate all the aspects of Schwitters' activity.