Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Jean Arp

1 March [Sat] - 1 June [Sun], 2025

Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889-1943) began her career as a textile designer, then pursued compositions of intricate geometric forms in the territory of paintings and interiors. Her husband Jean Arp (1886-1966) was both a poet and an artist who created collages and reliefs based on serendipitously discovered forms. This exhibition presents an outstanding artist couple of the first half of the twentieth century, introducing their individual works and drawing attention to their influences on each other and to works on which they collaborated, to reassess the creative potential of a partnership of spouses. From oversea collections including works from the Fondation Arp, Clamart in France and the Stiftung Arp e. V., Berlin/Rolandswerth in Germany, it comprises fourty-five works by Sophie Taeuber-Arp, thirty-six works by Jean Arp, and seven on which the couple collaborated: eighty-eight works in all.

Biography

Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Jean Arp in front of the marionettes fir the puppets show "King Stag"1918, Zurich Photo: Ernst Linck Stifung Arp e.V., Berlin/ Rolandswerth

Sophie Taeuber-Arp ／Jean Arp

Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889-1943)
Born in Davos, Switzerland, she studied at schools of applied arts, then met Jean Arp in Zurich, in 1915. They married in 1922. She engaged in teaching textile design while also opening up her genre-crossing creative activities in spatial decoration and painting, based on her research on color theory and geometric abstraction. )

Jean Arp (1886-1966))
Born in Strasbourg, Germany (now part of France). Studied art in Germany and in Paris. He took part in Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) and Dadaism. From the 1920s, he made his way between Surrealism and Abstraction, with collages, reliefs, and sculpture as his primary creative terrain.

Exhibition overview

Exhibition title: Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Jean Arp

Exhibition period: 1 March [Sat] - 1 June [Sun], 2025

Opening hours: 10:00 – 18:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays) *Last entry 30 minutes before closing.

Closed: Mondays（except May 5), May 7

Organizer: Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation

Under the auspices of: Embassy of Geamany, Goethe-Institut Tokyo, Embassy of France / French Institute of Japan, Embassy of Swizzerland

Venue: 6F Gallery

Concurrent Exhibitions: HAZAMA Inosuke（5F Gallery）
The Ishibashi Foundation Collection Highlights（4F Gallery）

Ticket prices (incl. tax)

	On-line ticket	In-Person ticket (purchase at museum)
General	1,800 yen	2,000 yen
University college high school students	Free entry　Advance booking required Please present their student ID upon entry.
Disabled visitors (plus one accompanying assistant)	Free entry　Advance booking not required Please present disabled person’s handbook upon entry.
Children through junior high school	Free entry　Advance booking not required

*Online tickets must be purchased up to 10 minutes before the end of each time slot.
*Booking is not accepted when a time slot is full.
*In-Person ticket may be purchased at the museum, if the time slot is not full.
*This admission fee gives the visitor access to the concurrent exhibitions.

Art works

Nic ALUF, Sophie Taeuber with the Dada-Head, 1920, Stiftung Arp e. V., Berlin/Rolandswerth

Jean Arp with the Navel-Monocle (photographer unknown), c. 1926, Stiftung Arp e. V., Berlin/Rolandswerth ⓒ VG BILD-KUNST, Bonn & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2024 C4762

Sophie TAEUBER-ARP, Jean ARP, Dessin (Duo-dessin), 1939, Stiftung Arp e. V., Berlin/Rolandswerth ⓒ VG BILD-KUNST, Bonn & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2024 C4772

Sophie TAEUBER-ARP, Jean ARP, Painting in Common, probably around 1950, Stiftung Arp e. V., Berlin/Rolandswerth ⓒ VG BILD-KUNST, Bonn & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2024 C4772

Jean ARP (After the work by Sophie TAEUBER-ARP), Untitled(Head), 1950s, Stiftung Arp e. V., Berlin/Rolandswerth ⓒ VG BILD-KUNST, Bonn & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2024 C4772

Sophie TAEUBER-ARP, Composition with Abstract Motifs (Notebook Cover), c.1917-18, Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau/Deposit from Private Collection

Sophie TAEUBER-ARP, Needle-lace strip, c.1920, Stiftung Arp e. V., Berlin/Rolandswerth

Sophie TAEUBER-ARP, Patchwork Trousers, 1920-24, Fondation Arp, Clamart

Sophie TAEUBER-ARP, Aubette 200 (design for the ceiling of the Aubette Bar in the Aubette, Strasbourg, France), 1927, Stiftung Arp e. V., Berlin/Rolandswerth

Sophie TAEUBER-ARP, Modular Cabinet (gray shelves), c.1929, Fondation Arp, Clamart

Sophie TAEUBER-ARP, Composition with angular circles-with-arms in lines and planes, 1930, Stiftung Arp e. V., Berlin/Rolandswerth

Sophie TAEUBER-ARP, Gradation, 1934, Stiftung Arp e. V., Berlin/Rolandswerth

Sophie TAEUBER-ARP, Relief Cell (Rectangular, geometric elements), 1936, Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau Donation of the friends of the Aargauische Kunstsammlung

Sophie TAEUBER-ARP, Vertical-Horizontal Composition with Elements of Objects, c.1919-38, Stiftung Arp e. V., Berlin/Rolandswerth

Jean ARP, 7 Arpaden: Arp Album (Merz, no. 5) 1. Mustache Hat, 1923, Stiftung Arp e. V., Berlin/Rolandswerth ⓒ VG BILD-KUNST, Bonn & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2024 C4772