Die Nabelflasche (The Navel Bottle) / Lithograph – Plate 4 / Jean (Hans) Arp, 1923
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
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Mustache Hat / Lithograph – Plate 1 / Jean (Hans) Arp, 1923
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Merz 5. 7 Arpaden von Hans Arp. Arp Mappe. Zweite Mappe des Merzverlages,
[ Portfolio of seven lithographs published by Merzverlag (Kurt Schwitters), Hannover, Germany ]
Constellation / Woodcut / Jean (Hans) Arp, 1951
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
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Kunsthaus Zürich, Abstrakte und Surrealistische Malerei und Plastik
Lithograph / Jean (Hans) Arp and Walter Cyliax, 1929
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Before the Battle of Hastings / After the Battle of Hastings… / Jean (Hans) Arp, 1947
Woodcut / Le Surréalisme en 1947 (publication) by various authors, edited by André Breton
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
The Crystal / Bronze / Jean (Hans) Arp, 1938–39 (cast 1959)
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Enak’s Tears (Terrestrial Forms) / Wood sculpture / Jean (Hans) Arp, 1917
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
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Untitled (Collage with Squares Arranged according to the Laws of Chance)
Paper collage / Jean (Hans) Arp, 1916–17
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Arabische Acht (Arabic Eight) / Lithograph / Jean (Hans) Arp, 1923
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
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Eierschläger (Egg Beater) / Plate 6 – Lithograph / Jean (Hans) Arp, 1923
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Merz 5. 7 Arpaden von Hans Arp. Arp Mappe. Zweite Mappe des Merzverlages
[ Portfolio of seven lithographs published by Merzverlag (Kurt Schwitters), Hannover, Germany ]
Form / Lithograph / Jean (Hans) Arp, 1951
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
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Arp: Behaarte Herzen 1923-26, Könige vor der Sintflut (publication)
Mussel’s Face / Woodcut / Jean (Hans) Arp, c. 1948-53
© 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
[ All images © ]
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The Museum of Modern Art in NYC has a rich arsenal of print and sculpture works by German-French artist Jean (Hans) Arp (1886–1966) as seen above. There at the MoMA a retrospective of Arp’s work was held in 1958 followed by an exhibition at the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris four years later in 1962. Currently, a selection of Arp’s art at the MoMA (NYC) may be viewed online here.
Mr. Arp was born of a German father and French mother in the French region of Alsace near the German border. He was a sculptor, painter and poet. “When Arp spoke in German he referred to himself as ‘Hans’, and when he spoke in French he referred to himself as ‘Jean’” (–Wikipedia) — hence the dual first names.
Jean Arp’s work is varied, spanning multiple 20th century art movements. Early on he was influenced by Wassily Kandinsky’s abstractions and later Cubism. (–Olga’s Gallery) Arp was a founding member of the Dada movement in Zurich in 1916. He was also part of the Surrealist movement until breaking with this movement to found the Abstraction-Création Group in 1931 along with a menagerie of other artists working in diverse styles; their mission to promote abstract art in the face of representational art.
I have featured many of Arp’s marvelous biomorphic forms above, a hallmark of largely his earlier pieces; his later work became increasingly geometrical. The simplicity and movement of the shapes presented here are quite engaging and playful. Immediately they drew me in.
See/learn more about Jean Arp:
– MoMA
– Google images
– Wikipedia
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