Arp & Taeuber-Arp: Pioneering Artist Duo in a Major Exhibition
On 21 February, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter will open a comprehensive exhibition presenting Hans/Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp, two leading figures in 20th-century abstract art who share one of art history’s most compelling love stories. Friends, Lovers, Partners is the largest retrospective dedicated to the couple in 35 years.
The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience Taeuber-Arp’s colourful, abstract, and geometric work alongside Arp’s organic forms, collages, and sculptures.
“Henie Onstad has a long-standing commitment to avant-garde, modernism, and interdisciplinary art, which is reflected in our permanent collection. Arp and Taeuber-Arp’s ability to break down boundaries—both between art forms and between art and life—makes their work highly relevant today. We are proud to present the most extensive Arp/Taeuber-Arp exhibition in 35 years,” says Anne Hilde Neset, Director of Henie Onstad Kunstsenter.
As artists, Arp and Taeuber-Arp deeply influenced one another and played an essential role in shaping abstract art in the 20th century.
“From the moment they met in Zurich in 1915, Hans/Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp shared the same conception of art, namely that there is no hierarchy between the ‘fine arts’ and the applied arts, between major and minor art, between the visual and the functional,” explains Walburga Krupp, Curator of the exhibition and a leading expert on the artists.
“Neither Arp nor Taeuber-Arp confined themselves to a single discipline. Their interdisciplinary approach was far ahead of its time,” adds Caroline Ugelstad, Director of Collections and Exhibitions at Henie Onstad, who collaborated with Krupp on the exhibition.
The artist couple worked across various media, including painting, sculpture, textiles, design, and literature. The exhibition provides a broad perspective on their diverse artistic oeuvre.
“While Taeuber-Arp gained international recognition and commercial success during her lifetime, her legacy was overshadowed by Arp’s rise to fame after her death,” says Ugelstad.
“Only in recent years have institutions and art historians fully acknowledged her significance. This exhibition presents them as equals, following their journey as friends, lovers, and collaborators.”
In addition to their individual works, the exhibition also features works they created together, spanning from the early years of their relationship to Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s untimely and unexpected death in 1943.
“What distinguishes them from other artist couples is that they didn't just work together on projects or commissions. At the end of the 1930s, they also created works known as ‘duo-works’, in which their mutual influence is palpable and individuality dissolves,” explains Krupp.
The connection to Henie Onstad and Norway is no coincidence. The museum holds Arp’s Man with Moustache (1925) in its collection on a long-term loan from Sparebankstiftelsen DNB. During Henie Onstad’s major Dada exhibition in 2019, several works by both Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Hans/Jean Arp were featured, including Taeuber-Arp’s marionettes. The couple’s relationship with Norway dates back even further—Taeuber-Arp co-curated a 1938 group exhibition at Kunstnerforbundet in Oslo, where she was the only female artist represented. Documentation from this exhibition and other work mentioned are now part of Friends, Lovers, Partners.
The exhibition presents around 250 works and objects, including paintings, sculptures, collages, drawings, textiles, jewellery, reliefs, photographs, books, and archival materials, on loan from nearly 60 international museums, foundations, and private collections. Major lenders include MoMA, Tate, Kunstmuseum Basel, Kunsthaus Zürich, Fondation Arp (Clamart), Fondazione Marguerite Arp (Locarno), Stiftung Arp e.V. (Berlin/Rolandswerth), and Yale University Art Gallery.
Curated by Walburga Krupp in collaboration with Henie Onstad’s Caroline Ugelstad, Hans/Jean Arp & Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Friends, Lovers, Partners is organised by the Centre for Fine Arts Brussels (Bozar) in collaboration with Henie Onstad Kunstsenter. The exhibition was shown in Brussels from September 2024 to January 2025.
An extensive catalogue accompanies the exhibition. It features texts by Kurt De Boodt, Marie Claes, Isabelle Ewig, Medea Hoch, Walburga Krupp, Agathe Mareuge, Simona Martinoli, Susanne N. Nielsen, Laura Pirkelbauer, and Caroline Ugelstad. The catalogue is published by Bozar Books & Fonds Mercator.
The exhibition is generously supported by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.
Exhibition Overview
Title: Hans/Jean Arp & Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Friends, Lovers, Partners
Exhibition Dates: 21.02.2025–11.05.2025
Artists: Hans/Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Curators: Walburga Krupp in collaboration with Caroline Ugelstad
Press Preview: Wednesday, 19 February at 10:00, RSVP: tm@hok.no
Venue: Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Sonja Henies vei 31, 1311 Høvikodden
Opening Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 11:00–17:00, Thursday 11:00–20:00, closed Mondays
Website: www.hok.no
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Therese ManusMarketing and Communications Director
Tel:+4748064462tm@hok.noMartine Hoff Jensen
Tel:+4799520640mhj@hok.noImages
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About Henie Onstad Kunstsenter
Founded in 1968, Henie Onstad is a private foundation and art centre established by Sonja Henie and Niels Onstad at Høvikodden on the outskirts of Oslo in Norway. The building, designed by the Norwegian architects Eikvar and Engebretsen, is situated on a headland jutting into the Oslofjord, with exhibition spaces that open out towards the water like a fan. A leading arena for national and international art, it features a broad programme of interdisciplinary work through exhibitions and events that showcase modern and contemporary art. The surrounding park includes a sculpture trail featuring 30 works. To learn more, visit hok.no.
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