A leading figure of European avant-garde art, best known for his 'Merz' collages and his association with Dada and Constructivism, Schwitters fled Nazi Germany in 1937, initially for Norway, until forced to flee a second time to Britain. Upon arrival, he was interned as an 'enemy alien' from July 1940 to November 1941 at Hutchinson Internment Camp in Douglas on the Isle of Man, known as the 'artists' camp' because of the high number of artist internees. There, he produced a significant body of works including surprisingly traditional portraits and landscapes; like his fellow internees, who included Georg Ehrlich, Hermann Fechenbach, Paul Hamann, Erich Kahn and Fred Uhlman, he used cheap, often improvised materials and supports. He participated in the camp exhibition in November 1940 and contributed drawings and short stories to the camp's newspaper, The Camp Almanac but also gave poetry performances and produced ephemeral ‘Merz’, such as sculptures from porridge.

Schwitters’ landscape paintings were created both from memory and through direct observation within the camp, revealing a more reflective dimension of his artistic practice. These works are distinguished by their lyrical use of colour, simplified forms, and emotional introspection, representing a shift from his earlier, avant-garde 'Merz' constructions. The Douglas landscapes serve as compelling records of exile, providing valuable insight into Schwitters' unwavering dedication to art production under challenging circumstances and standing as significant visual documentation of this period in British wartime history.