State-of-the-art new look
lery’s most famous exhibit, a wall of the Merz Barn by Kurt Schwitters, is now the central part of a permanent display explaining its significance.
Schwitters is a figure important in 20th Century art history. Denounced as a “degenerate” artist by the Nazis, he fled and ended up in the Lake District, where he transformed a barn with discarded objects that appealed to him.
He has been called “the supreme master of collage”, while the Merz Barn wall is described in the new Hatton programme as “one of the UK’s international art treasures”.
In 1965, when it seemed the barn might fall down, Richard Hamilton, one of those pioneers of pop art who taught at Newcastle University, masterminded its rescue.
In a painstaking process, the wall was brought to Newcastle and installed at the Hatton.
Visitors have seen it displayed in many ways. For a time, in an attempt to recreate the atmosphere of the barn, it was shut in a cupboard.
Now, though, it is impossible to overlook. Next to it is a thorough explanation of its extraordinary history, complete with photos and film.
The Pioneers of Pop exhibition pays homage to Hamilton and others including David Hockney, Joe Tilson, Peter Blake and County Durham-born Ian Stephenson, whose abstract paintings appeared in seminal 1960s film Blow-Up.
Julie Milne, chief curator of galleries for Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, which manages the gallery for Newcastle University, said she was delighted to welcome people back to the Hatton.
“The Hatton has played a unique role in the development of British art, with its history intimately entwined with some of the most influential artists of the 20th Century,” she said.
Pioneers of Pop opens on Saturday, October 7 and runs until January 20 next year. Admission is free.
Also opening will be Kurt Schwitters: Collage & Assemblage, a rare showing of works by the artist to complement the Merz Barn wall.
See more details at www. hattongallery.org.uk.