ART-ARP-SOP
Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Systemic Construction
Structure as Rhythm
ART-ARP-SOP
Structure as Rhythm
Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Index Code:
ART-ARP-SOP
Origin:
Switzerland
Field Notes:
geometry enacted · rhythm regulated · abstraction applied
Defining Moment:
Early 1920s — geometric abstraction expands across painting, textile, relief, and dance, establishing rhythm as a structural system rather than a stylistic device.

Sophie Taeuber-Arp

(
1889–1943
 )
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Sophie Taeuber-Arp built abstraction as a rhythmic system across painting, textile, and movement, where structure emerges through repetition, proportion, and use.

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How does rhythm function as structure here?

In Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s work, rhythm operates as a governing structure rather than an expressive effect. Geometric units repeat, shift, and align across media, producing order through regulated variation.

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Painting, textile, relief, and movement follow the same underlying logic: form is organized through proportion, interval, and sequence rather than composition or narrative. What appears playful or decorative is in fact precise. Structure holds through repetition. Difference emerges through rhythm.

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Position

Process as Form

The method of making defines the structure. Repetition, accumulation, or procedure becomes the visible logic of the work.

In Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s work, structure emerges through rhythmic systems where geometry, movement, and craft operate as equal organizing forces.
Hard Systems
Form is governed by rigid rules, limits, and non-negotiable constraints.
Constructed Surfaces
Surfaces are built through layering, joining, and controlled fabrication.

Systemic Construction

Builds structure through interlocking rules, flows, and functional hierarchies.
Structure
Structure holds the work through rules, joins, and controlled relationships between parts.
Material
Material behavior governs form through weight, resistance, and constraint.
Proportion
Proportion organizes coherence through measured intervals, scale, and relation.
Art
Form operates as a site for material, perceptual, and conceptual inquiry.
Image Credits
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1. Nic Aluf Studio. Sophie Taeuber-Arp with her Dada-Head, 1920. Gelatin silver print on card. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Courtesy Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin / Rolandswerth.

2. Sophie Taeuber-Arp with Dada-Head, Zurich, 1920. Photograph by Nic Aluf. Courtesy Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin / Rolandswerth.

3. Sophie Taeuber-Arp in costume for a housewarming party organised by Walter Helbig, Ascona, Switzerland, August 1925. Fondation Arp, Clamart, France.

4. Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Hans Arp in front of puppets, 1918. Photograph by E. Linck. Photo courtesy Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin / Rolandswerth. © SABAM Belgium 2024.

5. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, set design for König Hirsch (The Stag King), 1918. Photograph by E. Linck. All rights reserved. Fondation Arp photographic archives.

6. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Wool needlepoint. 24 × 24 5/8 inches (61 × 62.5 cm). Stiftung Hans Arp und Sophie Taeuber-Arp e.V., Remagen-Rolandswerth. © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Courtesy Stiftung Hans Arp und Sophie Taeuber-Arp e.V., Remagen-Rolandswerth. Photograph by Wolfgang Morell.

7. Sophie Taeuber-Arp (Swiss, 1889–1943), Freudanalytikus, Zurich, 1918. Oil paint on turned wood and metal, 24 × 6 11/16 × 6 11/16 inches (61 × 17 × 17 cm). Museum für Gestaltung Zürich.

8. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Construction géométrique (Geometric Construction), 1942. Ink over preliminary drawing in pencil on paper, 12 5/8 × 12 inches. © Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin / Rolandswerth / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin / Rolandswerth and Hauser & Wirth. Photograph by Alex Delfanne.

9. Installation view: Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Living Abstraction, Neubau, Kunstmuseum Basel, 20 March – 20 June 2021. Curated by Walburga Krupp, Eva Reifert, Natalia Sidlina, and Anne Umland.

10. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Fond noir, formes blanches, bleues, rouges et grises (Black Ground, White, Blue, Red, and Gray Forms), c. 1934. Oil on canvas, 46 × 55.1 cm (18 1/8 × 21 3/4 in). Framed: 48.8 × 58 × 2.4 cm (19 1/4 × 22 7/8 × 1 in). © Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin / Rolandswerth.

11. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Tate Modern, London, 2021. © Tate. Photograph by Seraphina Neville.

12. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Composition with Oblique Lines and a Small Transparent Circle, 1916–1918. Collection Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck. Photograph by Mick Vincenz.

13. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, 1930. Oil on canvas, 19 1/2 × 25 1/4 inches (49.5 × 64.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Riklis Collection of McCrory Corporation. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

14. Installation view of the exhibition Sophie Taeuber-Arp, CK Zamek Culture Center, Poznań, 2019. Photograph by Rafał Cielek.

15. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Composition à cercles et demi-cercles, 1938. Courtesy Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck.

16. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Round Relief in Four Heights, Curved Elements, Cutting. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

17. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Éléments divers en composition verticale-horizontale (Various Elements in Vertical-Horizontal Composition), 1918. Gouache on paper, 21.6 × 18.8 cm (8 1/2 × 7 3/8 in). © Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin / Rolandswerth. Photograph by Alex Delfanne.

18. Installation view: Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Tate Modern, London. Photograph by Seraphina Neville.

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Cover: Installation view: Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Living Abstraction, Neubau, Kunstmuseum Basel, 20 March – 20 June 2021. Curated by Walburga Krupp, Eva Reifert, Natalia Sidlina, and Anne Umland.

Portrait: Nic Aluf Studio. Sophie Taeuber-Arp with her Dada-Head, 1920. Gelatin silver print on card. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Courtesy Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin / Rolandswerth.

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Field Notes

Back to
The Atlas

By Structural Focus

Quiet Modernism relates practices through how form is organized rather than how it appears. Connections emerge through shared structural conditions — such as repetition, constraint, spatial organization, material behavior, or duration — even when outcomes differ.

A single grouping may reflect multiple overlapping structural concerns.
Kazuko Miyamoto
Tension as spatial structure
Hanne Darboven
time as notation

By Historical Lineage

Quiet Modernism traces historical relationships through movements, schools, influence, period, and shared cultural context. These links show where a practice sits within a broader lineage, even when the structural problems differ.
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A single grouping may reflect multiple overlapping structural concerns.