The Proposal is a collage by the German artist Kurt Schwitters. It takes the form of a nineteenth-century lithographic illustration over which the artist has pasted sections of a food advertisement from a magazine. Much of the lithograph is still visible, showing two gentlemen in the left of the image who have entered a room to initiate a marriage proposal, most likely by the younger of the two men to one of the five women visible on the right side of the composition. This scene is interrupted by seven pieces of a glossy magazine that are laid over it, all of which contain pictures of food, including pies, doughnuts, biscuits and roasted and fried chicken. The bold colour of the advertisement sections contrasts with the monochrome tones of the print behind them. The edges of the magazine pieces are rough and torn in some cases and smooth and straight in others, creating a juxtaposition of line and texture.