Hans Arp：Die Natur der Dinge

German-Frenchsculptor,painterandpoetJeanArp(1886-1966)isoneofthemostimportantpioneersoftwentiethcenturynon-figurativeart.AfounderoftheZurichandCologneDadamovements,akeySurrealistandConstructivistandlaterafounderoftheParisAbstraction-Creationmovement,hewasalwaysattheforefrontofhisera'sevolvingavantgardes.Hisworkwasbyturnspowerful,organic,anthropomorphic,biomorphic,geometric,coincidentalandformal,evoking"thenaturalprocessofcompression,hardening,ofcoagulation,ofthickening,ofgrowingtogether."Ingeneral,Arppreferrednottotalkabouthisabstractions,citingthefactthatsculpturalformsinnaturedonotillustrate,butratherparaphraseandproduceconcreteformsthemselves.Hedidnotwanttowork"according"tonature,but"like"nature.Thisbeautifullyproducedvolume,whichdocumentsthecompleterangeofArp'sartisticandpoeticoeuvre,ispublishedontheoccasionoftheopeningofGermany'sArpMuseumextension,designedbythePritzker-Prize-winningNewYorkarchitectRichardMeier.Thenewpanel-and-glassModernistextensionissituatedhighatopabankoftheRhineRiver,accessiblebyaninnovativesubterraneanpassagewayconnectedtoamonumentalelevatorthatcutsthroughtheheavilywoodedhillsidebelowthemuseum.