»Space pictures«
Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Zweiklang Hans Arp – Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Zeichnungen, Photos, Gedichte, hrsg. von Ernst Scheidegger, Zürich 1960, S. 53f.»They are planar spaces," wrote Hans Arp, "in which lines cut across areas, lines separate lightness from darkness, lines divide up the picture. She called these pictures 'Space Pictures'. These planar spatial realities are designed solely with the media of colour and area, without making use of perspective or drei-dimensional illusion.«
About the Works
Four Spaces with a Broken Cross, 1932
Gouache on paper
27 x 35 cm
Six Planar Spaces an Angular Bands, 1938
Gouache on paper
37 x 29 cm
From 1932 Sophie Taeuber-Arp worked on her so-called "Space Pictures". While she, as an architect, actually took the step from flat areas to three-dimensional space, these pictures appear initially to be entirely locked into planar space. But the compositions, which at first sight appear static, conceal considerably more dynamic potential. The picture area is divided into four, and later into six or even twelve fields. In the early "Space Pictures", such as Quatres espaces à croix brisée a moving, light interplay of forms arises through delicate lines which intersect each other and outline drawings of circles, squares and rectangles. In the later works, such as Six espaces à plans et bandes angulaires they become denser and noticeably more static.