Bewegtes Tanzgeschmeide (Moving Dance Jewellery)

About the work

There are three versions of Hans (Jean) Arp’s sculpture Moving Dance Jewellery. The largest, dating from 1970, stands in front of the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck and is based on an original design from 1960. A first enlargement the following year contributed significantly to the success of one of the first public art projects held in the Italian city of Spoleto in 1962: the Festival dei due Mondi. In consultation with Jean Arp – and authorised by Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach – the sculpture was further
enlarged in 1970, after the death of the artist. That version is the one that can now be seen at the Arp Museum.
Moving Dance Jewellery counts among Arp’s threshold sculptures – relief sculptures he had worked on since the late 1950s. In contrast to the organic forms of his round sculptures, the threshold sculptures have a more architectural form with a reduced front and rear view. Empty forms – such as the stylised navel in Moving Dance Jewellery – break up the flatness of the work and invite the viewer to incorporate the surrounding nature as a
sculptural component.

Hans (Jean) Arp born 1886 in Strasbourg – died 1966 in Basel