Art pioneer Kurt Schwitters’ Lake District retreat to be sold for development

Followers of the German modernist give up hopes of preserving his working studio, the Merz Barn after funding cut

Revellers in bizarre fancy dress gathered beside Windermere on Saturday night to honour the legacy of the artist Kurt Schwitters and his absurdist Merz movement. Tango and Charleston lessons in Ambleside were followed by the first Dada/Merz ball. But behind the swinging dance music of the inter-war years, a sadder note rang out across the lake shore.

For the memory of Schwitters, the anti-fascist German artist who lived in the Lake District, has been dealt a serious blow. The celebrated Merz Barn that he set up 75 years ago on land next to the village of Elterwater, and which once won handsome support from the Arts Council of England, is to be sold. Despite recent donations from leading artists Bridget Riley, Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst and Tacita Dean, the rustic art studio, which was to have become a landmark on a planned Schwitters trail, will be shut next month and is likely to be commercially developed.