Hans (Jean) Arp in quotes, on sculpture, Dada & life; free resource, European art history

Hans / Jean Arp in quotes - the Swiss famous artist on his sculpture art, Dada & artistic life in Switzerland and France - free resource for students, pupils and teachers in European art history

.
Hans Arp as starting artist was strongly involved in Swiss Dada. So his early quotes report us about his dadaist period there. Later he went to Paris and participated there in French Surrealism for some years. Afterwards he connected himself with other abstract artists in Paris, like Theo van Doesburg.

Arp’s quotes clarify his concept of ‘Concrete Art’ and his characteristic approach in sculpture art. His device: create art as anonymous as possible! Arp has become famous during his life for artistic public in Europe because of his many organic abstract sculptures. Moreover Arp made Dada poetry, paintings, graphic art, collages and texts. He often cooperated closely with other artists - with his wife Sophie Tauber, Kurt Schwitters and later with the Dutch-born artist Theo Van Doesburg.
.
Some selected quotes of famous artist Hans / Jean Arp - as a short introduction of his extended quotes in the PDF:

• ’I hereby declare that on February 8th, 1916, Tristan Tzara discovered the word DADA. I was present with my twelve children when Tzara pronounced (it)… .What interests us is the Dada spirit and we were all Dada before the existence of Dada. The first Holy Virgins I painted date from 1886, when I was a few months old and amused myself by pissing graphic impressions…’ Arp’s quote on Dada, in his text ‘Declaration’, Oct. 1921

• ’…art is fruit growing out of man like the fruit out of a plant like the child out of the mother…’ - quote of Arp from ‘Notes From a Dada Diary’; published in ‘Transition magazine’, 1932

• ’I like nature but not its substitutes. Naturalist art, illusionism, is a substitute for nature. I remember that in arguing with Piet Mondrian (in Paris, 1920’s), he opposed art to nature saying that art is artificial and nature is natural… .I do not think that nature is in natural opposition to art. Art’s origins are natural.’ - Arp’s quote from ‘Jours effeuillés: Poèmes, essaies, souvenirs’, France, 1966, p. 359
  .
  selectionof free art-resources on famous artist Hans / Jean Arp:

  • extended biographical notes of Arp, on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Arp
  • artist-quotes of ànd about Hans/Jean Arp, on Wikiquote: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Arp
  • images of the sculpture art of Arp, on Wikiart: https://www.wikiart.org/en/jean-arp
    .
    editor: Fons Heijnsbroek / Matrozenhof (FotoDutch on Wikiquote):<br>[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/User:FotoDutch]