Jean hans arp biography for kids printable

Something of a one-man movement, Jean Arp could and did make anything into art. Best-known for his biomorphic sculptures, and one of the most versatile creative minds of the early th century, he fashioned sculptures out of plaster, stone and bronze, and also expressed himself in paintings, drawings, collages , and poems. His approach to form, often referred to as organic abstraction, was remarkably consistent: his wavy lines suggested plants, body parts and other natural motifs, while remaining entirely abstract.

Like an extraterrestrial on earth for the very first time, Arp's genius was in presenting visual information as if he is first seeing it. Transformation, growth, fecundity, and metamorphosis are among the dominant themes in his work. One of Arp's earliest "chance collages," this composition demonstrates his signature technique of tearing paper into rough shapes and dropping them onto a larger sheet, and then pasting them where they happened to fall.

However, if we look carefully at this composition, what are the "chances" that pieces of paper would fall this way?

When was jean arp born

They are relatively evenly spaced and aligned with the frame, gently guided by the artist into an unfussy, yet harmonious composition. Even if Arp was not entirely willing to relinquish control over the process, this idea was incredibly radical for the period. One of the first attempts to engage the element of chance in a work of art, it demonstrates Arp's commitment to the ideal of chaos, a hallmark of Dada.

One of a series of wooden relief sculptures made by Arp in the s, Shirt Front and Fork depicts a recognizable form in an unrecognizable context. Rendered in black, grey and white, the work has an overt graphic quality that allows the viewer to quickly identify the shape of a fork on the right side.