Jean Arp (1886 – 1966) was a French artist who was a founding member of the Dada movement. Arp was born in Strasbourg, Alsace and grew up in an artistic environment; his father was a sculptor and his mother a painter. Arp studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1904 to 1905, but he soon became disillusioned with the traditional art scene there and moved to Paris, where he became involved in the avant-garde art scene.
Arp’s work was deeply influenced by Cubism and Surrealism, and he helped to found the Dada movement in 1916. He was a prolific artist, creating sculpture, paintings, collages, and poetry. His work often explored the relationship between chance and order, and he frequently used organic shapes and found objects in his work. Arp was also a talented musician, and he composed several Dadaist songs.
Arp’s work is held in major museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
