Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s 127th Birthday

Gracing the face of every Swiss 50 franc bill is the straightforward gaze of a dark-eyed woman. Behind this serious portrait lies one of Switzerland's most colorful artists: Sophie Taeuber-Arp, whose 127th birthday we celebrate today!

Taeuber-Arp was a Swiss artist, designer, architect and dancer. Notably, she’s one of the most important artists of geometric abstraction – her minimalistic style, which is reflected in her textile artwork, marionettes, interiors, drawings, paintings, reliefs and sculptures, makes her distinguished amongst other artists of the early 20th century. Together with her husband, Dadaist artist Hans Arp, she permanently moved to France in the late 1920’s.

Today’s doodle, by artist Mark Holmes, was a grand artistic experiment in itself. In his words:

‘Doodling’ other artists gives us the chance to truly appreciate their work through the study and deconstruction of their art. Our challenge, of course, is to reinterpret the work and integrate it with our ubiquitous ‘Google’ in a manner that remains faithful to the artist’s spirit without being a simple reproduction of their work, or so modified that it is unrecognizable. The rough drafts below, featuring my ‘doodled’ versions to the left and her original works to the right, should give a sense of the challenge in balancing legibility with the spirit of authenticity.

This was an especially fun doodle because Sophie Taeuber-Arp was such a prolific and diverse artist. I almost couldn’t make up my mind which of her works to draw inspiration from, and I just wanted to keep going. Hopefully in the end, I was able to capture the spirit of at least one aspect of her work, and help draw a few more eyeballs to her many contributions to the arts.

Taeuber-Arp’s legacy has lived on through international exhibitions, including one co-created by the Google Cultural Institute and New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Visit this online exhibit dedicated to this Swiss master of modernism.

Information regarding Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s original art, shown above (right):

Nr. 1: Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Aubette 200, around 1927, pencil and watercolor on paper, 24.4 x 31.8 cm, Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin/Rolandswerth

Nr. 2: Sophie Taeuber-Arp, composition en taches quadrangulaires, polychromes, denses, 1920, gouache on paper, 24 x 32 cm, Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin/Rolandswerth

Nr. 3: Sophie Taeuber-Arp, xix espaces à plans et bandes angulaires, 1938, gouache on paper, 26.8 x 34.8 cm, Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck

Nr. 4: Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Composition verticale-horizontale sur fond blanc, 1916, gouache on paper, 28.5 x 27.3 cm, Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin/Rolandswerth

Nr. 5: Sophie Taeuber-Arp, composition à cercles et demi-cercles, 1935-1938, gouache on paper, 25.7 x 34.8 cm, private collection