11 configurations
published 1945
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View on museum website →Medium
1 vol: ill: 11 woodcuts in black on wove paper (woodcut VII repeated on cover); text by Gabrielle Buffet-Picabia; intro. by Max Bill; poem by Jean Arp
Dimensions
overall: 27 x 26.2 cm (10 5/8 x 10 5/16 in.)
Classification
Volume
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Harvey S. Shipley Miller in memory of Herbert M. and Nanette Rothschild
Accession Number
1991.72.1
Art Historical Context
**11 Configurations** by Jean (Hans) Arp, published in 1945, is a striking artist’s book featuring 11 woodcuts in black ink on wove paper—one repeated on the cover—bound into a compact volume measuring 27 x 26.2 cm. Arp, a pioneering figure in Dada and Surreal, fills these prints with his signature organic, biomorphic forms fluid, amoeba-like shapes that evoke chance and the subconscious, defying geometric rigidity. Produced at the war’s end, this work captures a moment of renewal, blending visual poetry with textual contributions from collaborators Gabrielle Buffet-Picabia (text), Max Bill (i...
About the Artist
Jean (Hans) Arp
Hans Arp, born Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp on September 16, 1886, in Strasbourg—then part of the German Empire but now in France—grew up in a culturally contested border region that mirrored his dual German-French heritage, with a French mother and German father. He began his artistic training at the École des Arts et Métiers in Strasbourg, leaving in 1904, before studying at the Weimarer Kunstschule i...