(Strasbourg 1886–1966 Basel)
Le petit Théâtre, (1959), signed ARP, underneath, bronze, dark brown patina, number 4 from an edition of 5, executed in 1964 from the original model of 1959, 109.5 x 68 x 18.5 cm

Photo certificate:
Marguerite Hagenbach-Arp, dated 24. VII.72

We are grateful to Fondazione Marguerite Arp, Locarno, for their kind assistance in cataloguing this work.

Provenance:

Galleria Il Collezionsta, Rome;
Galleria Il Narciso, Turin (label underneath)
Sant’Agostino, Turin, auction no. 84, 17 November 2003 (with photo certificate) there acquired by the present owner
European Private Collection

Exhibited:
Rome, Jean Arp, opera 1912–1965, Galleria Il Collezionista, January/February 1971
Turin, Arp da Arp, Galleria Il Narciso, April/May 1971
Turin, Jean Arp, Galleria Il Narciso, January/March 1993, cat. N. 19 (ill.)

Literature (about all the 5 casts):
Giuseppe Marchiori, Arp avec deux poemes de Arp, Alfieri (ed.), Milan 1964, n. 130
Edouard Trier/Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach/Francois Arp, Jean Arp Sculptures 1957–1966, Thames & Hudson, London 1968, n. 194
Ionel Janiou, Jean Arp, Arted, Paris 1973, p. 76 no. 194
J. Arp/C. Sylvia Weber/Museum Würth, ARP, J. Thorbecke (ed.), 1994, p. 164
Hans Arp-Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Ein Künstlerpaar der Moderne, Rolandseck (ed.), 1996
Hans Arp, A critical survey, Arie Hartog (ed.), compiled by Kai Fischer, Hatje Cantz, 2012, p. 321, n. 194

Note:
The plaster of this sculpture is now part of the collection of Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne, gift of Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach.

The shapes I created in the years from 1927 to 1948, and which I called cosmic shapes, were vast shapes that were meant to encompass a multitude of other shapes, for example the egg, the planetary orbit and the course of the planets, the sprout, the human head, the breasts, the shell, the waves, the bells. I scattered these shapes according to the „laws of chance“. I subconsciously obeyed a rule that today has become a supreme edict (...).
These cosmic forms appeared mute because their language exceeded the waves perceptible by humans. Whilst visiting Chartres Cathedral in 1948, the fullness, the august magnificence, and the perfection of the windows that no art can ever exceed compelled me to reflect on the limits of our power and to reduce the realm of our deployment. Therefore, from that moment onwards I chose the most primitive shapes, partially rectilinear shapes that made it possible to attract, intercept, and include movements and ideas which approached human appearance.
Arp

„Le petit théâtre“ forms part of the series of works that Arp described as Seuils, sculptures in marble or metal, visible from both sides, and conceived of to be enlarged and to live in harmony with architectural structures.
As planned by the artist, the larger, monumental version of this work, created in Corten steel and 5 metres high, faces the Science faculty of the University of Paris.

Photo certificate:
Marguerite Hagenbach-Arp, dated 24. VII.72

We are grateful to Fondazione Marguerite Arp, Locarno, for their kind assistance in cataloging this work.

Provenance:

Galleria Il Collezionsta, Rome;
Galleria Il Narciso, Turin (label underneath)
Sant’Agostino, Turin, auction no. 84, 17 November 2003 (with photo certificate) there acquired by the present owner
European Private Collection

Exhibited:
Rome, Jean Arp, opera 1912–1965, Galleria Il Collezionista, January/February 1971
Turin, Arp da Arp, Galleria Il Narciso, April/May 1971
Turin, Jean Arp, Galleria Il Narciso, January/March 1993, cat. N. 19 (ill.)

Literature (about all the 5 casts):
Giuseppe Marchiori, Arp avec deux poemes de Arp, Alfieri (ed.), Milan 1964, n. 130
Edouard Trier/Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach/Francois Arp, Jean Arp Sculptures 1957–1966, Thames & Hudson, London 1968, n. 194
Ionel Janiou, Jean Arp, Arted, Paris 1973, p. 76 no. 194
J. Arp/C. Sylvia Weber/Museum Würth, ARP, J. Thorbecke (ed.), 1994, p. 164
Hans Arp-Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Ein Künstlerpaar der Moderne, Rolandseck (ed.), 1996
Hans Arp, A critical survey, Arnie Hartoi (ed.), compiled by Kai Fischer, Hatje Cantz, 2012, p. 321, n. 194

Note:
The plaster of this sculpture is now part of the collection of Wallraf. Richartz Museum, in Colonia, gift of Marguertite Arp-Hagenbach.

The shapes I created in the years from 1927 to 1948, and which I called cosmic shapes, were vast shapes that were meant to encompass a multitude of other shapes, for example the egg, the planetary orbit and the course of the planets, the sprout, the human head, the breasts, the shell, the waves, the bells. I scattered these shapes according to the „laws of chance“. I subconsciously obeyed a rule that today has become a supreme edict (...).
These cosmic forms appeared mute because their language exceeded the waves perceptible by humans. Whilst visiting Chartres Cathedral in 1948, the fullness, the august magnificence, and the perfection of the windows that no art can ever exceed compelled me to reflect on the limits of our power and to reduce the realm of our deployment. Therefore, from that moment onwards I chose the most primitive shapes, partially rectilinear shapes that made it possible to attract, intercept, and include movements and ideas which approached human appearance.
Arp

„Le petit théâtre“ forms part of the series of works that Arp described as Seuils, sculptures in marble or metal, visible from both sides, and conceived of to be enlarged and to live in harmony with architectural structures.
As planned by the artist, the larger, monumental version of this work, created in Corten steel and 5 metres high, faces the Science faculty of the University of Paris.