Jean Arp's Poetic Forms at Kröller-Müller Museum

The Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo presents 'Arp: the poetry of forms', a comprehensive exhibition dedicated to Jean Arp (1886–1966), the French-born artist active in the Netherlands. Arp co-founded Dada in Zurich, later engaged with Surrealism and abstraction, and maintained a long association with De Stijl through Theo van Doesburg, with whom he designed the Aubette recreation center in Strasbourg in 1926. The exhibition highlights Arp's most intense career period (1920–1935) and debuts four previously unseen works from private collections: 'Concrete relief G. Child and head', 'Torse-vase', the woodcut series 'Sun recircled', and 'Memory from the region of Heracles'. Arp's practice is presented as a theatrical interaction with reality, emphasizing physicality, sinuous lines, and a poetic rhythm. His concept of 'concrete art' sought harmony with nature without imitation, paralleling the experimental sculpture of Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, and Constantin Brancusi. The show also features Arp's illustrated poetry collections for Tristan Tzara, underscoring his multidisciplinary approach. On view until September 17, 2017.