Jean Arp
About
Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp, known as Jean Arp, was a German-French sculptor, painter, poet, and collage artist pivotal in the Dada and Surrealist movements. Born in Strasbourg to a French mother and German father, he rejected formal academic training after brief studies in Strasbourg, Weimar, and Paris, developing an autodidactic approach to abstract, organic forms inspired by nature. During World War I, he co-founded Dada in Zürich's Cabaret Voltaire in 1916, collaborating closely with Sophie Taeuber, whom he married in 1922; together they created nonrepresentational collages, embroidered works, and painted wooden reliefs.
Abstract biomorphic forms with organic, sensuous shapes inspired by nature, chance, and automatism, bridging Dada and Surrealism.
Selected Exhibitions
- Venice Biennale 1954
- Museum of Modern Art New York retrospective 1958
- Musée National d’Art Moderne Paris 1962
- Galerie Pierre Paris 1925
- Galerie Bernheim Jeune Paris 1907
Awards
- Grand Prize for Sculpture, Venice Biennale 1954