The Fondation Arp is dedicating its new exhibition
to highlighting the influence of mythology and ancient civilizations on the artistic creation of Jean Arp, through around fifty works (sculptures, paintings, papers), documents and photographs.

How did myth inspire Arp in his conception of works named after gods, goddesses, astrologers,
and mathematicians of ancient Greece? How did prehistoric idols give rise to some of his sculptures?
How does the ideographic writing of Easter Island relate to the forms of the "Arpian language"? These are the main lines of thought explored by the curators of this new exhibition at the Foundation, working on two key elements of Jean Arp's design: words and form.

The exhibition begins with Arp's specific and multifaceted relationship with Greek antiquity. The Olympian pantheon, its various legends, as well as the scientists and philosophers of the ancient world strongly influenced Arp's work and his conception of art.

Another section is devoted to Jean Arp's vision of ancient forms (torsos, amphorae, etc.), as they were visible to him through the great Western collections and art magazines of the early 20th century. Other eras and civilizations are also highlighted: Arp's relationship to prehistory and certain non-European cultures, each time drawing inspiration from the meanings of these forms from another place, from another time.

curators
Mirela Ionesco, Chiara Jaeger and Sébastien Tardy

exhibition possible thanks to the support

of the Association des Amis de Sophie Taeuber

et de Jean Arp

of the city of Meudon,

by a loan from the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire