Rodin and Arp in Dialogue at Fondation Beyeler Basel

The Fondation Beyeler in Basel presents "Rodin / Arp," the first museum exhibition to directly compare the work of Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) and Hans Arp (1886–1966). Running from December 13, 2020, to May 16, 2021, the show brings together 110 works from private collections and international museums. Curated by Raphael Bouvier, it is organized in collaboration with the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck in Remagen, Germany, and the Musée Rodin in Paris. The exhibition highlights both artists' shared themes—creation, growth, transformation, decay—expressed through human, animal, and vegetal forms, as well as literary influences like ancient mythology and Dante's Divine Comedy. Rodin's iconic "The Thinker" and "The Kiss" are displayed alongside Arp's "Ptolemy" and "Torso." A performance by choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, titled "Dark Red," will be held at the museum from January 29 to February 14, 2021, connecting Rodin's obsession with the body to Arp's formal freedom. Bouvier notes that Rodin introduced new artistic ideas that Arp later adopted, developed, or contrasted in his biomorphic forms.