View source for Jean Arp

{{Short description|German-French sculptor and poet (1886–1966)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox artist
|name          = Jean Arp
|image         = Hans Arp.JPG
|imagesize     =  
|caption       = Photograph of Jean Arp, published in ''[[De Stijl]]'', vol. 7, nr. 73/74 (January 1926)
|birth_name    = Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp
|birth_date    = {{Birth date|df=y|1886|9|16}}
|birth_place   = [[Strasbourg]], [[Alsace-Lorraine]], [[German Empire]]
|death_date    = {{Death date and age|df=y|1966|6|7|1886|9|16}}
|death_place   = [[Basel]], Switzerland
|nationality   = German
|field         = Sculpture, painting
|training      = [[Académie Julian]]
|movement      = [[Abstraction-Création]], [[Surrealism]], [[Dada]]
|works         = 
|patrons       = 
|influenced by = 
|influenced    =
|awards        =
|module={{Infobox person|child=yes
| signature        = Arp Hans Jean 1887-1966.jpg}}
|spouse        = {{plainlist|
* [[Sophie Taeuber-Arp]],
* Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach
}}
}}

'''Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp''' ({{IPAc-en|ɑr|p}}; {{IPA|de|aʁp|lang}}; 16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as '''Jean Arp''' in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter and poet. He was known as a [[Dada]]ist and an [[abstract art]]ist.

==Early life==
Arp was born Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp to a French mother and a German father in [[Strasbourg]] during the period between the [[Franco-Prussian War]] and [[World War I]], when the city and surrounding region were under the control of the [[German Empire]]. Following the return of [[Alsace]] to France at the end of World War I, French law required Arp to adopt a French name, and he legally became Jean Arp, although he continued referring to himself as "Hans" when he spoke German.<ref name="Robertson">{{Cite book|title=Arp: Painter, Poet, Sculptor|last=Robertson|first=Eric|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2006|location=New Haven}}</ref>

==Career==

=== Dada ===
In 1904, after leaving the [[École des Arts et Métiers]] in Strasbourg, he went to Paris where he published his poetry for the first time. From 1905 to 1907, he studied at the [[Weimar Saxon-Grand Ducal Art School|Weimarer Kunstschule]] in Germany, where he met his uncle, German landscape painter [[Carl Arp]]. In 1908 he returned to Paris, where he attended the [[Académie Julian]]. Arp was a founder-member of the first modern art alliance in Switzerland Moderne Bund in Lucerne in 1911,<ref>{{cite web|title=Hans Arp|url=https://www.theartstory.org/artist/arp-hans/|access-date=18 August 2022}}</ref> participating in their exhibitions from 1911 to 1913.<ref name="Jean Arp">[http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A11&page_number=1&template_id=6&sort_order=1&section_id=T004220 Jean Arp] [[Museum of Modern Art]], New York</ref>

In 1912 he went to Munich and called on [[Wassily Kandinsky]], the influential Russian painter and art theorist. Arp was encouraged by him in his researches and exhibited with the [[Der Blaue Reiter]] group.<ref name=NYTRussell>{{cite web|last1=Russell|first1=John|title=Jean Arp – A Pioneer Worthy of Honor|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/10/arts/art-view-jean-arp-a-pioneer-worthy-of-honor.html|work=The New York Times|date=10 August 1986}}</ref> Later that year, he took part in a major exhibition in Zürich, along with [[Henri Matisse]], [[Robert Delaunay]], and Kandinsky.<ref name=NYTRussell/> In Berlin in 1913, he was taken up by [[Herwarth Walden]], the dealer and magazine editor who was at that time one of the most powerful figures in the European avant-garde.<ref name=NYTRussell/>

In 1915 he moved to Switzerland to take advantage of Swiss neutrality. Arp later told the story of how, when he was notified to report to the German consulate in Zürich,<ref name=Richter>[[Hans Richter (artist)|Hans Richter]]", quoted in ''Dada XYZ'', 1948; archived in ''the Dada Painters & Poets: Anthology'' (2nd edition, 1981), edited by Robert Motherwell</ref> he pretended to be mentally ill in order to avoid being drafted into the German Army: after [[sign of the cross|crossing himself]] whenever he saw a portrait of [[Paul von Hindenburg]],<ref name=NYTRussell/> Arp was given paperwork on which he was told to write his date of birth on the first blank line. Accordingly, he wrote "16/9/87"; he then wrote "16/9/87" on every other line as well,<ref name=Richter/> then drew one final line beneath them and, "without worrying too much about accuracy", calculated their sum.<ref name=BretonAnthology>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=8C8hBQAAQBAJ&dq=arp+%22the+accuracy+of+his+addition%22&pg=PT199 Hans Arp]", by [[André Breton]], in ''[[Anthology of Black Humor]]''; originally published 1940</ref> [[Hans Richter (artist)|Hans Richter]], describing this story, noted that "they [the German authorities] believed him."<ref name=Richter/>
<!-- The purpose of this commented-out passage is to prevent citogenesis. Please do not remove it except under the conditions described below.

WHAT ABOUT THE UNDRESSING PART, you might ask. This is my fault - I distinctly remember seeing that in an art encyclopedia in the mid-90s, it's why I remembered the 'adding up his birthdate' story in the first place, and when I added it to the article here in 2005 I didn't think to cite my source more precisely than "an art book I once read", because it was early 2005 and to be painfully honest, the culture on Wikipedia was a bit sloppier at the time. And now this factoid has spread. If you can find a source for the part about the nudity, good, you can restore it, BUT it MUST be a source from BEFORE 2005. Because most of the other sources use my wording, and the ones that don't, we can't trust to have not based it on this. I've hunted down the 'added up his birthdate' detail, and found a new detail about 'crossing himself in front of Hindenburg', and it's not likely that those would have been enough by themselves, and it fits with Arp's personality, but 'it sounds plausible' isn't enough.
	
There's also a bit where [[Jean-Jacques Lebel]] said "Hans Arp, when a soldier, blew his nose in the flag when his name was called", ("On the Necessity of Violation", https://www.jstor.org/stable/i247895, Vol. 13, No. 1, Autumn, 1968 of The Drama Review) – but that was an 'essay on experimental theater', so I'm not certain how much we can trust it to be literally true.-->[[File:Pagoda Fruit by Jean Arp, Tate Liverpool.jpg|thumb|400x400px|Jean Arp, 1949, ''Pagoda Fruit'', bronze [[Tate Liverpool]]]]
It was at an exhibition that year where he first met the artist [[Sophie Taeuber]] who was to become his collaborator in the production of works of art and a significant influence on his artistic style and working method.<ref>Carolyn Lanchner, ''Sophie Taeuber-Arp'' (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1981) 9f</ref> They married on 20 October 1922.<ref>Carolyn Lanchner, ''Sophie Taeuber-Arp'' (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1981) 20</ref>

In 1916 [[Hugo Ball]] opened the [[Cabaret Voltaire (Zürich)|Cabaret Voltaire]], which was to become the centre of Dada activities in Zürich for a group that included Arp, [[Marcel Janco]], [[Tristan Tzara]], and others.<ref>[https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/jean-arp Jean Arp, Guggenheim Museum]</ref> In 1920, as Hans Arp, along with [[Max Ernst]] and the social activist [[Johannes Theodor Baargeld|Alfred Grünwald]], he set up the Cologne [[Dada]] group. In 1925 his work also appeared in the first exhibition of the [[Surrealist]] group at the Galérie Pierre in Paris.<ref name="Robertson" />

=== The [[Henri Bergson]] Influence ===
In 1926 Arp moved to the Paris suburb of [[Meudon]]. In 1931 he broke with the Surrealist movement to found [[Abstraction-Création]], working with the Paris-based group Abstraction-Création and the periodical, ''Transition''. Beginning in the 1930s the artist expanded his efforts from collage, assemblage (''Trousse d'un Da'', 1921<ref>[https://collection.centrepompidou.fr/artworks/authors/ARP%20Jean%20(ARP%20Hans,%20dit)%E2%86%B9ARP%20Jean%20(ARP%20Hans,%20dit)/year/1914__1932?page=1 ''Trousse d'un Da(da)''], 1921, MNAM, Paris</ref>) and bas-relief to include bronze and stone sculptures.<ref>[[Michael Kimmelman]] (4 May 1990), [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/04/arts/review-art-the-power-of-whimsy-jean-arp-s-later-work.html The Power of Whimsy: Jean Arp's Later Work] ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref> He produced several small works made of multiple elements that the viewer could pick up, separate, and rearrange into new configurations.<ref>[http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artwork/259 Jean Arp, ''Head and Shell (Tête et coquille)'' (ca. 1933)] [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum]], New York.</ref>

[[File:Pastor de Nubes o Formes de Lutin.JPG|thumb|''[[Berger des Nuages|Cloud Shepherd]]'', Jean Arp (1953), [[Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas]]]]
Throughout the 1930s and until the end of his life, he wrote and published essays and poetry. In 1942 he fled from his home in [[Meudon]] to escape German occupation and lived in [[Zürich]] until the war ended.

=== Success ===
Arp visited New York City in 1949 for a solo exhibition at the Buchholz Gallery, and this coincided with a general international recognition of his work. In 1950 he was invited to execute a relief for the [[Harvard University]] Graduate Center in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], and would also be commissioned to do a mural at the [[UNESCO]] building in Paris. Arthur and Madeleine Lewja, of [[Galerie Chalette]], who had known Arp in Europe, became his gallery representatives in New York in the late 1950s, and were instrumental in establishing his reputation on the American side of the Atlantic.<ref>[https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/galerie-chalette-records-6103/series-2 ''Galerie Chalette records, 1916–1999: Artist's Files, 1916–1996,'' Archives of American Art, The Smithsonian, Washington, DC]</ref>

In 1958, a retrospective of Arp's work was held at the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in New York City, followed by an exhibition at the [[Musée National d'Art Moderne]] in Paris in 1962. In 1972, the Metropolitan Museum of Art showcased Jean Arp's work from the Lejwa's collection and a few works lent by Arp's widow, Marguerite Arp. The exhibition was expanded and traveled as "Arp 1877–1966," first exhibited at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and then shown in seven museums in the United States and six in Australia.<ref>[https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/galerie-chalette-records-6103/historical-note ''Galerie Chalette records, 1916–1999: Historical Note,'' Archives of American Art, The Smithsonian, Washington, DC]</ref> Organized by the [[Minneapolis Institute of Arts]] and the Wurttembergischer Kunstverein of Stuttgart, a 150-piece exhibition titled "The Universe of Jean Arp" concluded an international six-city tour at the [[San Francisco Museum of Modern Art]] in 1986.<ref>Zan Dubin (27 December 1987), [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-27-ca-31677-story.html Arp Retrospective in S.F.] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''.</ref>

==Exhibitions==
[[File:DenHaag23.JPG|thumb|''Scrutant l'horizon'' (The Hague, 1967)]]

=== Group ===
* ''The Spiritual Mission of Art: Artworks by Jean Arp & [[Sophie Taeuber-Arp]]'' (1960, Oct – Nov) [[Galerie Chalette]], New York

=== Solo ===
* ''Jean Arp, (''1949, January 18 – February 12) [[Karl Buchholz (art dealer)|Buchholz Gallery]], New York<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Arp|first1=Hans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2mx0zQEACAAJ|title=Jean Arp: January 18-February 12, 1949, Buchholz Gallery, Curt Valentin, New York|last2=Cathelin|first2=Jean|date=1949|publisher=Buchholz Gallery, Curt Valentin}}</ref>
* ''Jean Arp: A Retrospective'' (1958, Oct 8 – Nov 30) [[Museum of Modern Art|MOMA]], New York<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jean Arp: A Retrospective {{!}} MoMA|url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2829|access-date=2022-01-11|website=The Museum of Modern Art}}</ref>
* ''Jean Arp'' (1965) [[Galerie Chalette]], New York
* ''Sculpture, Reliefs, Works on Paper: Jean Arp'' (1965) [[Galerie Chalette]], New York
* ''Jean Arp: A Retrospective'' (1962) Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris

=== Posthumous ===
* ''Exhibition of Sculpture in Marble, Bronze & Wood Relief by Jean Arp'' (1980 January 10 - February 16) [[Sidney Janis|Sidney Janis Gallery]], New York
*''The Nature of Arp (September 15, 2018 – January 6, 2019) [[Nasher Sculpture Center]]''
* ''Hans Arp's Constellations II'' (2019, February 8 – July 28) [[Harvard Art Museums]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation|url=https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/jean-arp|access-date=2022-01-11|website=The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation}}</ref>

==Recognition==
Arp's career was distinguished with many awards including the Grand Prize for sculpture at the 1954 [[Venice Biennale]], a sculpture prizes at the 1964 Pittsburgh International, the 1963 Grand Prix National des Arts, the 1964 [[Carnegie Prize]], the 1965 [[Goethe Prize]] from the [[University of Hamburg]], and then the Order of Merit with a Star of the German Republic.<ref>[http://www.gallery.ca/en/see/collections/artist.php?iartistid=192 Jean Arp] [[National Gallery of Canada]], Ottawa.</ref>

==Personal life and death==
Arp and his first wife, the Swiss artist [[Sophie Taeuber-Arp]], became French nationals in 1926.<ref name="Jean Arp"/> In the 1930s they bought a piece of land in [[Clamart]] and built a house at the edge of a forest. Influenced by the [[Bauhaus]], [[Le Corbusier]] and [[Charlotte Perriand]], Taeuber designed it.<ref name=Glimpses>Saskia De Rothschild (14 February 2013), [http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/glimpses-of-jean-arps-world/ Glimpses of Jean Arp's World] ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref> She died in 1943 in [[Zürich]], where they had moved to escape the German occupation of France, from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. After living in Zürich, Arp was to make Meudon his primary residence again in 1946.<ref>[http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artists/bios/990 Jean Arp] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220065444/http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artists/bios/990 |date=20 February 2014}} [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum]], New York.</ref>

In 1959 Arp married the collector Marguerite Hagenbach (1902–1994), his long-time companion.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hans (Jean) Arp|url=http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2006/dada/artists/|publisher=National Gallery of Art|access-date=12 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712032543/http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2006/dada/artists/|archive-date=12 July 2014}}</ref> He died in 1966, in [[Basel]], Switzerland.

==Legacy==
There are three Arp foundations in Europe: The Fondation Arp in Clamart preserves the atelier where Arp lived and worked for most of his life; about 2,000 visitors tour the house each year. The Fondazione Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach in [[Locarno, Switzerland]], was founded by Arp's second wife, Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach.<ref name=Glimpses/> A foundation dedicated to Arp, named Stiftung Hans Arp und Sophie Taeuber-Arp e.V., was established in 1977 by the dealer Johannes Wasmuth in consultation with Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach and owns the largest collection of works by Arp and holds the copyright of all his works. It has research centre and office in Berlin, and an office in [[Rolandseck]], Germany.<ref>Gareth Harris (12 September 2012), [http://theartnewspaper.com/articles/Shake-up-at-Arp-foundation/27183 Shake up at Arp foundation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920000924/http://theartnewspaper.com/articles/Shake-up-at-Arp-foundation/27183 |date=20 September 2012 }} ''[[The Art Newspaper]]''.</ref>

The [[Musée d'art moderne et contemporain of Strasbourg]] houses many of his paintings and sculptures.

==Gallery==

=== Early work, Dada-influenced ===
<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Hottingen Hans Arp 1915.JPG|A wall painting made in Zürich in 1916
File:Jean Arp, 391, No. 8, Zurich, February 1919.jpg|Reproduced in ''[[391 (magazine)|391]]'', No. 8, Zürich, February 1919
File:Dada 4-5 Zurich-1919-Collage et bois gravé de Arp en couverture LB.4-0531 mb.jpg|Print for the cover of ''Dada 4'', 1919
File:L'escalier de l'Aubette en 1928 (musées de Strasbourg) (29056943916).jpg|Stained glass windows in the [[Aubette (building)|Aubette]], 1928
File:Shirt Front and Fork.JPG|1922, ''Shirt Front and Fork'', wood
File:Jean Arp Configuration.jpg|''Configuration'', 1931, wood
</gallery>

=== Mid-century ===
<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Impish Fruit' by Jean Arp (Hans Arp), Tate Modern.JPG|1943, ''Impish Fruit'', wood
File:HansArp-CloudShepher1953.JPG|1953, ''[[Berger des Nuages|Cloud-shepherd / Berger de nuages]]'', bronze
File:Schalenboom, Jean Arp, Middelheimmuseum 01.jpg|1947–53, ''Tree of Shells'', bronze
File:Evocation of a Form Human Lunar Spectral.jpg|1950, ''[[Evocation of a Form: Human, Lunar, Spectral]]'', bronze
File:Marl Arp 01.JPG|1959, ''Feuille se reposant'', bronze
File:Wolkenschale.jpg|1961, Wolkenschale (EN: "Cloud Shell"), stone
</gallery>

=== Late (and posthumous) work in bronze and stainless steel ===
<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Arp-museum-2017-40.jpg|1962, ''Schlüssel des Stundenschlägers'', bronze
File:Tanzgeschmeide.jpg|{{circa|1960–1970}}, ''Moving Dance Jewelry'', bronze
File:Jerusalem King George Street sculpture.jpg|1972, ''On the Threshold of Jerusalem,'' Stainless Steel, Meir Sherman Garden, Jerusalem
File:Mz-SchluesseldesStundenschlaegers.jpg|1974, ''Schlüssel des Stundenschlägers'', bronze, Mainz, Germany
File:1982-01-Washington National Art Gallery-East Building028-ps.jpg|1977, ''Oriform'', stainless steel, Hirshorn Museum, Washington
File:Tomb of Hans Jean Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach in Locarno Switzerland.jpg|Memorial to Hans Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach, bronze on granite, Locarno, Switzerland
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book | url=http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15324coll10/id/186304 | title=Jean Arp: from the collections of Mme. Marguerite Arp and Arthur and Madeleine Lejwa, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art | location=New York | publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art | year=1972 }}
*Jean Arp. (1972). ''Arp on Arp: Poems, Essays, Memories''. Viking Press. (posthumous collection of Arp's writings)

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{wikiquote}}
*{{SIKART|4023372}}
*{{MoMA artist|11}}
*{{IMJ-Collections|first= Jean|last=Arp|accessdate=1 September 2016}}
*[http://www.francois-murez.com/compoarp%20en.htm ''Composition''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521023055/http://www.francois-murez.com/compoarp%20en.htm |date=21 May 2011 }} Jean Arp – Composition according to the law of chance...
*[http://www.e-mca.ti.ch/lugano/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultListView/result.t2.artist_list.$TspTitleLink$0.link&sp=10&sp=Sartist&sp=SfilterDefinition&sp=0&sp=0&sp=3&sp=SsimpleList&sp=0&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=F&sp=T&sp=10 Jean Arp, Works in Museo Cantonale d'Arte, Lugano]
*[http://www.fondationarp.org Fondation Arp in Clamart, France]
*[http://fondazionearp.ch/en/welcome Fondazione Marguerite Arp in Locarno, Switzerland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402120518/http://fondazionearp.ch/en/welcome |date=2 April 2015 }}
*[http://www.stiftungarp.de Stiftung Arp in Berlin, Germany]
*[http://www.arpmuseum.org Arp Museum in Remagen, Germany]
* {{FrenchSculptureCensus}}
*[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/101743972?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=Hans%20arp&ft=ft 42 woodcuts by Arp in “Dada” periodical issues]
* {{IMDb name|1089007|Hans Arp}}

{{Dada}}
{{Surrealism}}
{{Authority control (arts)}}
{{portal bar|Arts|France}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arp, Jean}}
[[Category:1886 births]]
[[Category:1966 deaths]]
[[Category:French abstract painters]]
[[Category:German abstract painters]]
[[Category:Alsatian-German people]]
[[Category:Académie Julian alumni]]
[[Category:Dada]]
[[Category:20th-century French painters]]
[[Category:20th-century German male artists]]
[[Category:20th-century French male artists]]
[[Category:French male painters]]
[[Category:20th-century German sculptors]]
[[Category:German male sculptors]]
[[Category:20th-century German painters]]
[[Category:German male painters]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Artists from Strasbourg]]
[[Category:School of Paris]]
[[Category:German surrealist artists]]
[[Category:French surrealist artists]]
[[Category:German surrealist writers]]
[[Category:French surrealist writers]]
[[Category:Surrealist poets]]
[[Category:20th-century French sculptors]]
[[Category:French male sculptors]]
[[Category:20th-century French poets]]
[[Category:German-language poets]]
[[Category:20th-century German poets]]
[[Category:German male poets]]
[[Category:Painters from Alsace]]
[[Category:20th-century German male writers]]
[[Category:French abstract sculptors]]
[[Category:German abstract sculptors]]
[[Category:Writers from Strasbourg]]
[[Category:German people of French descent]]