Jean Arp
Metal Relief Documenta III1964

On view:

Broad Contemporary Art Museum, floor 3

Artist or Maker: Jean Arp
Germany, also active France and Switzerland, 1886-1966
Title: Metal Relief Documenta III
Date Made: 1964
Medium: Die-cut brass and aluminum
Dimensions: 17 1/8 x 14 1/4 x 5/8 in. (43.5 x 36.2 x 1.6 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Regina K. Fadiman Trust, Stephen O. Lesser Trustee
Accession Number: M.2001.181.9
Classification: Collages
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: Though he turned primarily to freestanding sculpture in the early 1930s—moving away from the wooden reliefs of his early Dada years—Jean Arp continued to explore the relief format throughout his career. This late work marks a return to a familiar format in new materials: die-cut brass and aluminum. The comparatively crisp contours and reflective surfaces of his metals lend structure to Arp’s biomorphic forms, anchored here by a central, ovoid shape set against a velvet-lined support. The relationship between solid and void reflects the artist’s enduring interest in the dynamic interplay between positive and negative space—from early torn-paper collages to his final metal reliefs.
Frances Lazare
Copyright: © Jean Arp Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

On view:

Broad Contemporary Art Museum, floor 3

Artist or Maker: Jean Arp
Germany, also active France and Switzerland, 1886-1966
Title: Metal Relief Documenta III
Date Made: 1964
Medium: Die-cut brass and aluminum
Dimensions: 17 1/8 x 14 1/4 x 5/8 in. (43.5 x 36.2 x 1.6 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Regina K. Fadiman Trust, Stephen O. Lesser Trustee
Accession Number: M.2001.181.9
Classification: Collages
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: Though he turned primarily to freestanding sculpture in the early 1930s—moving away from the wooden reliefs of his early Dada years—Jean Arp continued to explore the relief format throughout his career. This late work marks a return to a familiar format in new materials: die-cut brass and aluminum. The comparatively crisp contours and reflective surfaces of his metals lend structure to Arp’s biomorphic forms, anchored here by a central, ovoid shape set against a velvet-lined support. The relationship between solid and void reflects the artist’s enduring interest in the dynamic interplay between positive and negative space—from early torn-paper collages to his final metal reliefs.
Frances Lazare